Network outage hits Orange and Sosh in France

On Wednesday, October 21, 2026, a widespread network outage disrupted services for Orange and its subsidiary Sosh, affecting mobile users across France. Subscribers began reporting issues around 11:20 AM, with over 6,000 complaints recorded on the Downdetector website by the afternoon, and some sources suggesting the number may have reached over 11,000.

Mobile services disrupted in multiple cities

Users reported being unable to make calls, send messages, or access the internet. The outage affected several major cities, including Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg, and Bordeaux, with some users describing the situation as severe and widespread.

Fixed-line services remain unaffected

The disruption appears to be limited to mobile networks, as fixed-line services such as Orange’s Livebox were not impacted. This distinction allowed some users to maintain internet access through home broadband connections, while others were left without mobile connectivity.

Orange’s website and social media respond

Orange’s incident tracking website became inaccessible, possibly due to high traffic from concerned users. The company acknowledged the issue on its X account, stating that disruptions were occurring and that teams were working to restore the network. No technical details or timeline for resolution were provided at the time.

Cause and full impact still unclear

The cause of the outage remains unknown, and the extent of the disruption is still under investigation. This incident follows a major nationwide network failure Orange experienced on June 29 of the previous year, raising concerns about the reliability of its network infrastructure.