Major disruption: Thousands of Netcologne customers offline

A major disruption at the network operator Netcologne has led to outages of thousands of connections and numerous network-based services in the region around Cologne, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Leverkusen and Aachen. Affected customers are cut off from the telephone and, in some cases, the Internet. The company has over 470,000 landline customers in the region.

"Disruptions in the core network"

On Facebook, the company speaks of "disruptions in the core network". Apparently, all Netcologne services are affected. The websites and telephone lines of Netcologne itself were also temporarily unavailable, but are now apparently back online. According to user reports, the website, app and timetable information of Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (VRS) are also affected. The official website of the city of Cologne is also offline.

Those affected in the region were informed via the warning app Nina that they would also be unable to reach the emergency numbers 110 and 112 due to the disruption. They should switch to the mobile network. Mobile network operators in the region are not aware of any disruptions.

The first reports of disruption were received from around 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning. The exact cause of the outage is unclear. Retailers and restaurants whose payment services are processed via the Netcologne network are also affected. Some customers are reporting on social media that their telephone has completely failed, but their Internet connection is still working, at least in part.

Speculation about the cause

An affected reader of heise online points out that he can access various German websites, but not some US services. This could be due to the fact that his Fritzbox can no longer establish an IPv6 connection. Netcologne did not want to confirm this when asked.

"There are currently disruptions in Netcologne's core network, which is affecting all Netcologne services," the company said when asked. "Our specialists are working flat out to rectify the situation. Unfortunately, we are still unable to estimate how long the disruption will last." No further details are currently available.

The regional network operator Netcologne supplies several hundred thousand households in the Rhineland with DSL, cable TV and fiber optic connections. The focus of the networks is in the Aachen/Cologne/Düsseldorf region. The company also operates a narrowband wireless network for the Internet of Things (IoT).

(vbr)