Widespread Outage Disrupts Voice and Data Services for Customers
Verizon is currently experiencing a significant outage affecting its voice and data services for customers across the United States. Reports began surfacing around 12 PM ET, with DownDetector indicating hundreds of thousands of outage notifications peaking at 181,769. This incident has caused many users to see “SOS” instead of network bars on their devices.
Details of the Outage
The outage primarily impacts voice calls and wireless data, while text messaging appears to be functioning for some users. Verizon acknowledged the issue on their official news account, stating, “We are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers.” The company assured customers that its engineering teams are actively working to address the problem.
Geographical Concentration of the Issue
According to DownDetector, the most affected areas include:
- Boston
- New York
- Washington, D.C.
- Chicago
- San Francisco
- Los Angeles
While Verizon’s issues were notable, DownDetector also recorded smaller spikes in reports from AT&T and T-Mobile, but these were significantly lower, with AT&T peaking at only 1,769 reports. The discrepancy suggests that many AT&T users were likely attempting to contact Verizon customers.
Current Status and Company Response
As of 2:14 PM ET, Verizon stated that all engineering teams were fully deployed to resolve the outage, although they did not provide a timeline for restoration. Reports of outages have shown a decline, but as of 3:47 PM ET, over 55,000 reports were still being logged. Some customers reported partial restoration of service, but the situation remains uncertain.
Verizon’s last major outage occurred in September 2024, which similarly disrupted users’ ability to make calls. In contrast, both T-Mobile and AT&T confirmed their networks were functioning normally during this event, with T-Mobile emphasizing, “operating normally and as expected,” while AT&T reassured customers experiencing issues that “it’s not us…it’s the other guys.”
This is an evolving situation, and El-Balad will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available regarding the ongoing service disruption.
