M1 users report disruption to Internet services for second time this month
Screengrab of M1's website.
SINGAPORE: M1 users in Singapore reported disruption to their Internet services on Monday (Dec 21), the second time this month.
This is also the fourth disruption to M1 services this year.
"@M1Singapore it is down again. You have to change the way you operate M1. You are impacting all the people working from home," said Twitter user Michael Guerin on the telco's social media page.
"Is anyone else M1 broadband down? Mine just went down in the middle of a call," said another Twitter user dZus.
M1 users started reporting the disruption on the telco's Facebook page at about 10.30am.
Users complained that the service was disrupted in various parts of Singapore, including Tampines, Bishan, Simei, Sembawang, Marsiling, Serangoon, Jurong and Bukit Panjang.
More than 12,000 reports were logged at online service tracker Downdetector as of 12pm.
M1 said in a statement on Facebook at about 12.20pm that it was aware of the problem.
"We are aware that some customers may have experienced intermittent difficulties accessing fibre broadband services earlier. The issue has been resolved," it said.
It also advised users to "power off and on your devices" if they still face difficulties connecting to the network. Users should also not remove any cables on ONT and router devices.Â
"We apologise for the inconvenience caused and thank you for your patience."
The telco said then that all affected customers could switch to using their local mobile data, and that excess data usage charges would be waived.
In response to queries from CNA, M1 said it is investigating the cause of Monday's disruption and "will make public the information as required". The latest outage is isolated from the incident on Dec 4, a spokesperson said.
In an updated statement, M1 said Monday's disruption was caused "by a faulty equipment card which we have replaced".Â
"Given the recurrence we will be reviewing our complete broadband technical architecture to prevent the occurrence of such incidents."Â
The telco added that it received reports of the outage at around 11am, affecting some users in parts of Singapore.Â
The company's engineers and recovery team were activated and service was "progressively restored".
READ:Â StarHub, M1 fined over broadband service disruptions during COVID-19 circuit breaker
M1 was fined S$400,000 this year over disruptions to its broadband Internet service in May.Â
The disruption occurred during Singapore's COVID-19 "circuit breaker", prompting many complaints from Internet users frustrated by the inconvenience while working from home.
On May 12, the disruption lasted 23 hours from 7am to 6am the next day, affecting about 18,000 customers.Â
On May 13, users were hit by another disruption which lasted about six hours and affected up to 20,000 subscribers.
