O2 has firmly pointed the finger of blame for the outages it has suffered at software supplied by Ericsson.

Ericsson's CUDB (centralised user database) has been held responsible for both faults, which left millions of O2 customers unable to use their phones for periods between 11 and 12 July, and most recently, last Friday, 12 October.

As a result, O2 has got rid of the service and will spend £10 million on a replacement.

"We are removing the central user database provided by one of our suppliers, which has suffered two different faults in the last few months," stated Derek McManus, chief operating officer at O2. "We are not prepared to risk this happening to our customers for a third time and are implementing a proven alternative solution."

The CUDB is an ambitious platform that (during normal functionality) gathers customer information in one place, providing a company with easy access to user details. The outages are believed to have occurred because O2 was unable to validate its users, after the CUDB failed to transfer data properly.

The CUDB's replacement could well be provided by Ericsson, which, it should be stressed, will continue working with O2. However, the telecommunications technology provider is likely to face heavy competition from the likes of Huawei. 

The problems have raised serious doubts about O2's capability as a top provider, and confidence in the company has, justifiably, taken a considerable knock.