SINGAPORE: Both the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) announced via Facebook at around 7:00 PM on 8 October that the earlier disruption affecting the 995 and 999 emergency hotlines has been resolved.

The issue followed an island-wide outage of Singtel’s landline services, which occurred around noon.

The authorities confirmed that the public can now resume using the hotlines for emergencies and expressed their gratitude for the public’s understanding during the disruption.

At 5:07 PM, Singtel posted an update on Facebook stating that their engineers had isolated the problem affecting their fixed voice services.

The telco provider added that recovery measures were swiftly being deployed, and services were progressively being restored.

Earlier, users had taken to Singtel’s official Facebook page and X (formerly Twitter) to report difficulties making landline calls, including issues with office lines.

A check on Downdetector revealed a surge in outage reports for SingTel starting around 2 PM.

According to the feedback on Downdetector, most of the problems faced by users pertain to landlines, which matches the responses from netizens on social media platforms.

Major institutions were also affected by the outage. KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), the National Cancer Centre, and Changi General Hospital (CGH), all under SingHealth, alerted the public to the disruption.

By approximately 6:30 PM, all three institutions confirmed that their telephone services had been restored.

Additionally, Singapore’s three local banks—DBS, UOB, and OCBC—reported similar issues with their customer service hotlines during the outage.

SINGAPORE: Following the landline service outage occurred on Tuesday (8 October) noon, Singtel in a Facebook post update on 5.07PM noted that their engineers have isolated the problem affecting our fixed voice services

The telco service provider said Recovery measures are being rapidly deployed and services are progressively being restored.

“We apologise for the inconvenience caused and thank you for your patience. ”

A check on Downdetector revealed a surge in outage reports for Singtel beginning around 2 PM, peaking at 2,781 complaints. By 5 PM, the number of reports had decreased to over 500.

Earlier, users took to Singtel’s official Facebook page and X (formerly Twitter) to highlight difficulties making calls through landlines, including issues with office lines.

Emergency call services were also affected, with both the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and the Singapore Police Force (SPF) reporting disruptions. In a statement issued at 4:22 PM, both agencies acknowledged that members of the public were encountering difficulties when trying to call 995 and 999.

They assured the public that they are working closely with their service provider to resolve the issue as swiftly as possible. In the meantime, individuals experiencing difficulties reaching 995 or 999 are advised to send an SMS to SCDF at 70995 or SPF at 70999.

“The safety and well-being of the public is our top priority. We will provide updates as more information becomes available,” the authorities stated.