Updated on Jan. 14 at 11:35 p.m. ET : Verizon states that the outage has now been resolved, though hasn’t yet shared any details on what caused it. If you’re still having difficulty connecting to the network, Verizon recommends restarting your device. The company also confirmed again that it will provide account credits to impacted customers.
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Updated on Jan. 14 at 9:08 p.m. ET: Verizon has issued an apology to users and pledged to provide account credits to affected customers. However, the company has not yet explained the cause of the outage.
In a statement posted to X, the company wrote:
“Today, we let many of our customers down and for that, we are truly sorry.
“They expect more from us. We are working non-stop and making progress. Our teams will continue to work through the night until service is restored for all impacted customers.
“We will make this right — for any customer affected, we will provide account credits and share updates soon.”
Updated on Jan. 14 at 4:35 p.m. ET: In response to a frustrated customer on X, a Verizon Support account seemed to suggest that customers could be entitled to a discount on their bills due to the outage.
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The Verizon Support account wrote in a reply to the user: “You are very welcome, once service is restored we can review and adjust based on how long the outage occurs. *Sydney.”
We contacted Verizon to ask if affected customers could be eligible for a discount or compensation, and we’ll update this story if we receive a response.
Mashable Light Speed
Updated on Jan. 14 at 3:05 p.m. ET: Verizon provided Mashable with an additional statement about the ongoing outage, although the company did not release any information on the cause of the problem.
“Verizon engineering teams are continuing to address today’s service interruptions. Our teams remain fully deployed and are focused on the issue. We understand the impact this has on your day and remain committed to resolving this as quickly as possible.”
Starting around noon on Wednesday, many Verizon customers discovered that their phones had gone into SOS mode. Now, Verizon has acknowledged the ongoing outage.
In a statement to Mashable, a Verizon representative said, “We are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers. Our engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly. We understand how important reliable connectivity is and apologize for the inconvenience.”
Verizon outage: Why your phone says SOS, what we know so far
The Verizon Support account on X also shared the same message on Wednesday afternoon, as confused customers took to social media seeking answers.
So far, Verizon has not indicated the cause of the problem or the timeline of a potential fix.
The platform Downdetector categorized the outage as “Very High,” describing it as “a catastrophic break in standard cellular connectivity.” (Disclosure: Mashable and Downdetector are both owned by Ziff Davis.)
“The impact is rated as Very High, with users primarily reporting Mobile Phone failure (59%) and a total loss of signal (34%). A recurring theme in user feedback is devices defaulting to “SOS mode,” Downdetector said in a statement to Mashable.
When in SOS mode, customers are not able to make or receive phone calls or texts, and data services are also unavailable. However, customers should still be able to make emergency 911 calls via satellite, as per usual.
While Downdetector did receive a spike in user error reports for T-Mobile and AT&T, at this time, Verizon seems to be the only major mobile carrier suffering an outage. In a statement on X, T-Mobile said that its network was functioning normally at this time.
This is a developing story…
