On Monday, Verizon customers experienced widespread mobile service outages across the United States. The issues began around 9:30 AM ET, with hundreds of thousands of users reporting problems on Downdetector. The number of reports peaked at approximately 105,000 by 11:20 AM. Users encountered difficulties such as the inability to send texts and a complete lack of cellular service, primarily affecting the East Coast and Midwest regions. Verizon has not provided specific details on the cause of the outage. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is investigating to determine the cause and extent of the service disruptions.
Later that day, the PlayStation Network faced significant issues, disrupting online gaming globally. Users were unable to sign in on PS5, PS4, PS Vita, and PS3, or perform account maintenance on the web. The network’s streaming functionality was also affected. Services were restored in the early hours of October. Further inquiries are being made with Sony regarding the cause.
In other news, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) fined Cruise, General Motors’ self-driving vehicle division, $1.5 million. The fine was for not including key details in reports related to an October 2023 accident in which one of its autonomous vehicles struck and dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco. During an October 3 meeting with San Francisco officials, NHTSA, and other authorities, Cruise executives played a video of the accident. However, the video had connectivity issues that obscured the part where the vehicle dragged the victim, and executives did not mention this crucial detail.
The NHTSA has instructed Cruise to submit a corrective action plan and provide regular reports detailing the total number of vehicles, miles traveled, and whether they operated without a driver. Cruise must also summarize any software updates affecting its operations and meet quarterly with the NHTSA to review these reports.
Separately, Epic Games is facing challenges with Samsung and Google over app distribution. Epic claims that Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature, which is enabled by default on new Samsung devices, makes it difficult for users to install the Epic Games Store. This feature restricts app installations to the Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store by default. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has suggested possible collusion between Google and Samsung, although he acknowledges there is no concrete evidence to support this claim.
In summary, the day saw significant technological disruptions affecting Verizon and PlayStation Network users, regulatory actions against Cruise, and ongoing legal battles involving Epic Games.
