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Sigh. My phone gave an annoying sound, 2 EAM'ss that the phone system is down and our 911 service can not be reached.

That was a huge AFU.

Conclusions:
- Single point of failure in one domain
- twitter and whatsapp saved MyLittleCountry and virtually no one makes phone calls
- EAM messages useless, too late and contained error
- High level of improvisation, no one seemed to know what to do

Anyway, an IMS server of one telco operator had a hick up, voice channels on fixed and mobile terminated. Mobile data kept working, but fixed line data did not. This caused a massive phone blackout, you cold not pay with the bank card in shops. The redundancy system did not work. This included our 911 service and much gov't organizations.

Much too late the first EAM stated in case of an emergency visit the police or fire station. In some cities they send out ambulances and police cruisers to drive around so they could be stopped in case of an emergency. On social media local authorities issues alternative phone numbers, whatsapp numbers or to twitter them. It also seems many people did not get the EAM on their phones.

An hour or so later they send a second EAM stating two national emergency phone numbers to call. One of those phone numbers was a tip line of a newspaper.

Again an hour later or so they send the third EAM with a correction, and the correct phone numbers.

After four hours the voice call problem was fixed.

2 hours after the issue was fixed they send the fourth EAM stating 911 could be called again.

Political parties, emergency services and gov't are pissed off. In 2012 there was also an incident, the secretary of state told at that time he would take steps because "this may never happen again".

Conclusion for me: in case of SHTF I am $#@!ed. There was better information on social media than on the national tv. If internet was down too there would have been a huge problem. MyLittleCountry's digital infrastructure is way to vulnerable.

Just use the phone book to call ambulance/fire brigade/police if the regular emergency numbers 112/911 don't work?

This can also happen in Germany, even worse. Main problem is that government radio communication system used by emergency services and regular mobile phone networks are sharing the same infrastructure in some federal states.

In case the emergency numbers are not working (in a small area), radio atations announce the regular number for emergencies.

The problem was with KPN, a large telco in MyLittleCountry. You could not make a voice call with your KPN subscribed cellphone. If you were using Vodafone for example, you could voice call other Vodafone users. Since the majority of gov't services use KPN, including the emergency number, it was annoying. Some hospitals or doctors offices could also not being called since they use KPN landlines.

The first EAM stated to visit a local fire- or police station since they have a seperate emergency phone system. Most (small village) firestation are volunteer operated, so they called in firemen to staff the firestation.

Anyway it was said that rebooting the IMS domain solved the problem. It was a "routing problem".

No, it was not hacked, so they stated.

Nevertheless KPN's reputation is damaged. A while back a KPN firewall blocked all bank card transactions at one of the largest supermarkets here. Chaos and long queues. Clients had to go to an ATM to get cash.

For you Americans, this is how it sounds on an Iphone (test message twice a year): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkKxra7In3w