On Wednesday, Verizon encountered a substantial outage affecting cellular voice and data services nationwide, resulting in service interruptions for a broad segment of its wireless subscriber base. The telecommunications provider publicly recognized an ongoing "issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers," yet did not disclose the precise technical cause behind the service degradation.
Verification of the incident occurred throughout the day, with users reporting connectivity problems beginning around noon Eastern Time. Data from outage monitoring platform Downdetector indicated a surge in complaints peaking in the early afternoon hours and continuing at elevated levels, with approximately 50,000 users affected as of 4:30 p.m. ET.
Customers in various states noted that their devices displayed emergency-only connectivity indicators, such as "SOS" mode or messages indicating no signal availability. In New York City, official alerts signaled that the outage could impair the ability to place 911 emergency calls via Verizon's network. Residents were advised to utilize alternative means for emergency communication, including landline phones, other cellular carriers’ devices if available, or direct visits to local police or fire departments.
Geographically, the disruption extended across numerous metropolitan regions identified by Downdetector, including Washington D.C., Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, although reports suggested a nationwide scope. While a limited number of service complaints surfaced regarding other mobile providers, companies such as T-Mobile and AT&T promptly communicated that their networks remained functional. They highlighted, however, that their customers might be experiencing difficulties reaching Verizon subscribers due to Verizon's service challenges.
During cellular network outages such as this, telecommunications providers typically recommend that consumers connect to Wi-Fi networks to enable internet-based calling alternatives. In scenarios where Wi-Fi access is unavailable, options are limited, but some modern smartphones, notably recent iPhone models, can send messages through satellite communication features as a contingency.