With smartphones around the world being reduced to doorstops thanks to Ericsson’s software issues, the vendor is potentially facing a damages bill in excess of £100 million.

The full extent of the impact is a bit hazy for the moment, though it is rumoured to be much more than is officially known. What we do know is the O2 network was down for almost all of Thursday, Softbank’s customers were plunged back to the paper days and there are ‘several’ other customers who were impacted by the issue.

Ericsson has confirmed there were others, though it is remaining tight-lipped on who these operators actually are. That said, as you can see from the crowdsourced data below from wireless coverage mapping company Opensignal, it would probably be a fair assumption to add Vietnam’s Mobifone to the list.

Looking at the bill, The Telegraph has reported Ericsson will be facing a global bill of £100 million to compensate customers for the oversight. Ericsson is yet to respond to a request for comment, though having admitted being the root cause of the data dessert there will certainly be conversations concerning compensation.

Ericsson has said does not comment on speculation, though having admitted being the root cause of the data dessert there will certainly be conversations concerning compensation.

We understand O2 CEO Mark Evans is currently in discussion with the Ericsson management team regarding the whole issue, and the topic of damages will be included on the agenda. Ericsson UK and Ireland CEO Marielle Lindgren is certainly involved in these meetings, though we have not been able to confirm whether these specific discussions have been escalated all the way up to Group CEO Börje Ekholm.