Softbank's large-scale communication failure announced that it is due to 'Ericsson's packet switch software'

by Inzmam Khan

From 1:39 pm on Thursday, December 6, 2018 to 6:04 pm, Japan's SoftBank and Wybone's 4G mobile phone service, fixed telephone service "Phone Call" and some areas A large-scale communication failure occurred that "SoftBank Air" for home Wi-Fi could not be used. Softbank announced that the cause of the fault that occurred this time was due to "a problem occurred in Ericsson 's packet switch software."

Abuse on communication disorder of cellular phone service occurred on 6th December 2018 | Press Release | News | Corporate Information | Softbank
https://www.softbank.jp/corp/group/sbm/news/press/2018/20181206_02/

Update on software issue impacting certain customers
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2018/12/update-on-software-issue-impacting-certain-customers

According to Softbank, the problem occurred in the total number of packet switchboards manufactured by Swedish telecommunication equipment manufacturer · Ericsson, located in the Tokyo Center and the Osaka Center covering customers' packets nationwide. The simultaneous frequent software failure occurred around 1:39 pm on December 6, 2018, which means that SOFTBANK devices nationwide have been affected.

It seems that software of the packet switch has been in operation for 9 months, but it seems that there was no abnormality so far. The failure caused by the software did not occur only in Japan, and similar problems are occurring in 11 countries other than Japan using Ericsson's communication equipment, including the UK's leading mobile phone company O2 , Ericsson I am reporting.

SoftBank responded as soon as possible, restoring communication trouble by restoring the software to the previous version. SOFTBANK announces that it will work together with Ericsson to prevent thorough recurrence.

by rawpixel.com

On the other hand, Ericsson also explains the software failures that occurred simultaneously in many countries on the official website. After the failure occurred Ericsson identified the cause of the problem and found a problem in the node in the core network. Analysis of the problem confirmed that the expiration of the certificate was confirmed in the software installed by the customer with the communication failure.

Börje Ekholm, President and CEO of Ericsson said, "The defective software that caused this problem is expected to be discontinued immediately, apologizing to the affected customers and their users "We decided that we will continue to support some customers who have not yet completed recovery.