Network outages occur when carrier equipment failures, software bugs, overload, or natural disasters prevent normal phone and data service. With mobile phones as essential infrastructure, large-scale outages severely impact society.
The record 2022 KDDI (au) outage lasted approximately 86 hours, affecting up to 30.91 million lines with both voice and data disruption. Impact on emergency calls (110/119) highlighted that outages can be life-threatening.
Coping strategies include using alternate carrier lines (dual SIM or secondary device), internet calling via Wi-Fi (LINE calls, etc.), and public phones (landline networks operate independently from mobile networks).
The Ministry is strengthening carrier equipment redundancy requirements, mandating rapid user notification during outages, and studying emergency call roaming to other carriers. See disaster phone guide for alternative communication methods.