Europe 1 with AFP 22:25 p.m., May 30, 2023

Users of the Orange mobile network experienced difficulties on Tuesday afternoon after an outage of the operator. According to the latter, the situation returned to normal around 20:30, without specifying the causes of the breakdown. The operator had recommended to reach the emergency services if necessary via the number 112.

Orange's mobile network was hit Tuesday afternoon by a large outage, which ended in the evening, said the operator, without specifying the causes. "Back to normal: since 20:30, all Orange services are functional again," said the operator at 21:30 on the social network Twitter and then in a press release. "The Orange network remains under vigilance during the coming hours," he added.

Limited impact

A few hours earlier, Orange had told AFP that its mobile network had been the victim of an outage "since mid-afternoon". "Fixed telephony and mobile internet services are fully functional," an Orange spokesman said. The operator had recommended to reach in case of need the emergency services via the number 112, "whose operation is normal".

⚠️ An incident is underway on the Orange and Bouygues mobile phone networks.

❗️You may have difficulty reaching the emergency numbers: 18, 15, 17

Choose 112 pic.twitter.com/X8YdLL0Zzo

— Prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Rhône region (@prefetrhone) May 30, 2023

"Limited impact can disrupt calls to other emergency numbers (15, 17, 18)," he added. This advice had also been given by official structures such as the Civil Security, which recommended to "privilege the 112" to call the emergency services and to make the phone call "from a landline phone or via another operator". In June 2021, Orange had experienced significant unprecedented malfunctions of emergency numbers -- numbers 15, 17, 18 and 112 were for many French people inaccessible or reachable only after multiple attempts.