M1 will reconfigure its cell site switches and implement software to help manage unexpected traffic congestion in response to last week's mobile network outage.
In a media statement, the company provided some more details of its preliminary investigation into the disruption, which intermittently left some mobile users unable to make voice calls or send or receive SMS for a five hour period.
A pair of mobile site switches performed in an unstable manner, interrupting the authentication process and leading to congestion at the customer databases, M1 said.
The congestion flowed to another network layer, tying up more network resources and preventing customers from making or receiving calls.
M1 CEO Karen Kooi said adopting Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture has increased the complexity of its network architecture. “With a more sophisticated network, it has inevitably increased the level of complexity in troubleshooting,” she said.
“While the root cause for the mobile site switch instability is being investigated, we are reconfiguring our site switches to eliminate congestion that may arise due to unstable intermittent connections. We will also be deploying a software enhancement that will enable us to better manage sudden and unexpected extreme traffic conditions.”
M1 has also announced plans to appoint an independent expert to conduct a network architecture review to help improve network performance.