Australian carrier Telstra working on fix for Apple iMessage and Facetime outage [u]

Telstra, one of the largest cellular carriers in Australia, is working on a fix for an apparent services outage impacting customers major metropolitan areas attempting to access Apple's iMessage and Facetime features.

The Australian telco is seeing what is being described as widespread iMessage and Facetime outages in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, while customers in other areas like Perth are also complaining of disruptions, reports news.com.au.

"Some customers may be experiencing an issue with Apple iMessage and FaceTime. Customers continue to have the option to send SMS messages," a Telstra spokesman told the publication. "We're working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, and apologise for any inconvenience. We'll provide more information as soon as it's available."

According to customer complaints, iMessages sent within impacted zones do not go through. Instead, messages appear to perpetually hang as "sending" on a user's device.

Telstra addressed the issue on Twitter earlier today, saying users can alleviate iMessage issues by sending messages as SMS texts. Users can tap and hold on an offending message, then select "send as text." Alternatively, tapping on "more" presents options to completely delete the communication.

While the firm failed to provide information regarding the outage, it did confirm that a fix is in the works.

"Our team are working to fix an issue with Apple iMessage and Facetime for some customers. You can continue to send and receive SMS messages. We'll provide an update ASAP," Testra said in a tweet.

While neither Tesltra nor Apple have commented on the issue, it can be assumed that a backend communications issue is to blame for the ongoing outage. Considering Apple's services are working in certain areas of the country, the problem potentially lies with Telstra's servers.

Update: Telstra in a statement to AppleInsider says the issue is now resolved.

"Earlier today some customers experienced a disruption to Apple iMessage and FaceTime services. We worked with Apple to resolve this issue. Services are now being progressively being restored. We apologise for any inconvenience this caused," the company said.