AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile all experienced widespread network outages across the country on Thursday morning, leaving thousands of customers without cellular service and internet. The tracking site Downdetector reported over 32,000 AT&T outages at 4 a.m. ET, which then increased to more than 71,000 by 8 a.m. ET. Additionally, a little over 1,100 T-Mobile outages and about 3,000 Verizon outages were reported as of 7 a.m. Thursday. San Francisco’s Fire Department warned that the outages could potentially prevent people from making and receiving phone calls, including 911, and urged affected AT&T customers to reach out to friends or family who use a different carrier to call 911 on their behalf.
The cause of the service disruption remains unclear, while AT&T is working urgently to restore service to customers and is encouraging the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored. Verizon and T-Mobile denied direct network outages, asserting that the numbers from Downdetector likely reflected customers attempting to contact users on other networks. The outages raise concerns as inability to call 911 in the case of an emergency and poses serious challenges to public safety. San Francisco, Chicago, Virginia, and North Carolina issued warnings about the outage, urging people to find alternative means to contact 911.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens stated that Atlanta’s e-911 is able to receive inbound and make outbound calls but acknowledged the issue of AT&T customers’ cellular phones being in SOS mode. As the story continues to develop, it is critical for affected customers to stay updated and for the emergency response authorities to address the issue and restore consistent network service.
