Docomo services disrupted for 4 1/2 hours, affecting 2.52 mil users

So ... what was the cause and source of the smoke?

Was the Docomo FOMA service disrupted due to the sheer number of calls and emails made in the time span given? Did the servers overload and crash? If not, why was the service down for 3 more hours after the trains resumed running?

10min train delay causes disruption in telecom for 240min, high-tech country?

Either JR is miscalculating the number of affected persons, or NTT is not saying the real reason, because those numbers are really not high enough to warrant a 4 hour blackout.

One hour train delay, no? People calling work to postpone meetings, students to advise their teachers, workers at dept. stores and other shops which would be left un- / understaffed as a result of the delay... I can see why there would be an increase in calls.

A joke of a system in a highly developed country or simply poor techonology in a not so highly developed country?

Seems something needs to be upgraded so as a simillar situation does not occur in the future.

Imagine if it was a real emergency like the 3/11 quake tsunami, oh hang the system couldnt cope then either, wake up docomo we pay good money for crap systems, FIX IT.

that's why I don't use docomo...

Maybe it was from the solar radiation storm from the sun? I wonder if they even know about that.

I would've thought that was caused by the geomagnetic storm from from yesterday's solar flair. Apparently transmissions could've been influenced.

This has nothing to do with the JR stoppage. FOMA was experiencing trouble from around 8:26AM this morning.

That is why everyone should have a carrier pidgin in their back pack.

NTT needs to come to grips with tech and move forward. Overpriced for the services you get - in all realms by it landlines, mobile, cable, internet...

NTT needs some serious competition - there services suck, but no choice

To NTT Docomo: Please do not insult our intelligence.

According to this article, the docomo glitch affected 2.5 million people, while the train stoppage affected 120,000 people, of whom only a certain percentage would have docomo cell phones. How pathetic to blame a completely different company for its own faulty system.

During the 3/11 earthquake, i couldn't use DoCoMo for even basic phone calls, while my other phone, SoftBank, still worked. I didn't left Tokyo during that time. Many users had the same complaint, with phones not even registering to the network (no signal status). That tells a lot about DoCoMo quality in Tokyo.

Oh so now they're admitting to a glitch and not just blaming the train disruption. Gotta love Japanese companies that lie bold face to the public and when the public calls them on it, outright changes the story. Pathetic.

Some of yo may laugh, but as a Blacckberry-docomo user I've never had my services disrupted. As well, my BB came in very handy while I was stranded in Narita during the March 11 disaster. I was able to effectively navigate and message my family and get in touch with the airline with no glitches. It might be a good idea to get off the FOMA platform and move to smartphones people. Overpriced? That I will agree with.

A small existing glitch + massive influx of calls and emails = service crash. Quite realistic and acceptable actually.

Thing is, was the glitch present before January 25?

If so, why wasn't it fixed or addressed?

The main problem here is the reliability of Docomo to continue providing services even through emergencies. A few months ago, there were other problems that caused problems to existing Docomo users and prospective clients (cough battery problems, BlackBerry problems, etc cough). If not for the great product lineup and cancellation procedures (plus fees, of course), I would speculate that some if not many Docomo users may have already changed service providers.