Verizon Hit By Major Outage. Cellular Access Down, Phones In SOS Mode

Verizon appears to be facing a major outage that’s caused customers to lose cellular access, preventing them from making phone calls, texting, or receiving internet data.

The problem began around noon EST when user reports of the disruption surged on Downdetector.com, which tracks outages at major IT providers. Those reports have since soared to over a million.

Verizon is already working on a fix, although the cause remains unclear. “We are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers,” the company told PCMag. “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.”

(Credit: Downdetector.com)

An hour after acknowledging the outage, the carrier tweeted: “Verizon engineering teams are continuing to address today’s service interruptions. Our teams remain fully deployed and are focused on the issue.”

Verizon Phones Are Showing SOS Mode

The outage has been hitting Verizon customers across the US. Report density is highest in New York City (33,490) and Atlanta (23,412), Downdetector says, but significant volume is also coming from Charlotte, Houston, and Dallas. Downdetector has rated the disruption as “very high,” with users primarily reporting mobile phone failure (59%) and a total loss of signal (34%).

The problems include phones losing complete access to the Verizon network, according to complaints posted on Downdetector. Instead, iPhones are showing an “SOS” indicator for Apple’s satellite data system, which is meant for emergency purposes, in the top-right corner, instead of any cell phone bars. The satellite feature, which mostly supports text messaging only, is designed to only pop up when traditional cellular access unavailable.

SOS indicator

(Credit: PCMag)

Are AT&T and T-Mobile Down, Too?

Downdetector.com also shows outage reports for AT&T and T-Mobile customers, but only about 10% of the volume of complaints facing Verizon. Both carriers say their networks are up.

“Our network is operating normally at this time,” AT&T tells us.

“T-Mobile’s network is keeping our customers connected, and we’ve confirmed that our network is operating normally and as expected,” T-Mobile says. “However, due to Verizon’s reported outage, our customers may not be able to reach someone with Verizon service at this time.”

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So, the Downdetector reports are likely people on AT&T or T-Mobile who are trying to contact people who have Verizon. They’re unable to get through and think it’s their carrier having trouble.

Will Verizon Issue a Credit?

As Verizon tries to resolve the outage, some customers are blasting the carrier for the disruption and demanding that the carrier offer credits to compensate for the service loss. A few other users on Reddit have reported Verizon’s home internet service, Fios, remains online.