Vodafone is offering customers 12 hours of free text messages following an SMS outage which occurred on Easter Sunday.

The seven-hour outage frustrated Vodafone customers, with many logging onto Facebook and Twitter to vent their frustration. Vodafone apologised for the hitch on Monday on their blog, admitting a fault had occurred.

“We apologise for the technical fault that occurred yesterday and resulted in many customers experiencing difficulties in sending and receiving text messages. We know how important it is for you to remain in touch with your family and friends, so we will be offering a free SMS day to all Vodafone customers on Sunday, 1st May (8am-8.00pm AEST).”

Many Vodafone customers have voiced their disappointment with the offer, particularly because many Vodafone cap plans already offer unlimited text to any Australian mobile. Many were also disappointed to find that the “free SMS day” was only 12 hours.

Vodafone announced in February that they would be proceeding with a $500 million upgrade of their network following coverage issues which occurred in 2010. The troubled telco also created a new online community for customers to report any issues. However, many continue to flock to social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, with the #vodafail hashtag one of the top trending topics on Twitter in Australia.