A large Verizon outage took down wireless service for customers across the U.S., leaving many unable to make calls, send texts or use mobile data. The outage lasted several hours before Verizon was able to confirm that service had been restored.
The Verizon outage rapidly became a top trending topic in the U.S. as customers reported issues in multiple regions. Many people said their phones went into SOS mode, which meant their devices could not connect normally to Verizon’s network.
Thousands of customers report issues
All day long, reports of the Verizon outage blew up on outage-tracking platforms. Hundreds of thousands of customers were thot to be affected at the peak, though Verizon didn’t immediately confirm how many users were impacted.
Customers reported problems such as calls not going through, not receiving texts and no mobile internet. Other users also reported that their phones kept losing and regaining network connectivity.
Phones Switch to SOS Mode
The most obvious sign of the Verizon network outage was the appearance of “SOS” on the affected iPhones and other devices. SOS means that your phone isn’t able to connect to your normal cellular carrier.
This was a particular problem for customers who rely on mobile connectivity for communication, navigation and emergencies. Several U.S. communities told residents with problems to use another carrier or a landline if they needed emergency help.
Verizon Confirms Service Is Back
Verizon later said that the outage had been fixed and advised customers still experiencing problems to restart their devices. The company apologised for the disruption and said that affected customers would receive account credits.
Verizon later said it would issue a $20 credit to eligible customers’ accounts. The credit was intended to acknowledge the disruption and provide some relief to customers who lost service, the company said.
Software problem investigation
Verizon later said the issue was a software-related problem. The company said it was investigating the incident and working to strengthen its network systems to reduce the chance of similar disruptions.
The reason was that the outage did not appear to be publicly linked to a cyberattack. Verizon instead concentrated on identifying and correcting the technical failure that caused the service disruption.
What Verizon Customers Need to Know
Once the Verizon outage has been fixed, customers still having problems are typically advised to reboot their devices and rejoin the network. If the network is back to normal but the phone still stuck in SOS mode, you may need to do some additional troubleshooting.
The incident also points to how reliant Americans have become on mobile networks for daily communication. Even a short-term outage can impact work, transportation, banking, emergency communications and access to online services.
Sources
- Reuters – Verizon has restored mobile service after a roughly 10-hour outage.
- CBS News – Reported on widespread Verizon service outages and company confirmation of service restoration.
- Verizon – Outage fixed, customer credits and instructions for restarting devices confirmed.
- NPR – Verizon said the outage was caused by a software problem and it was investigating.
- Associated Press – Reported on the nationwide Verizon service outage and its effect on customers.
