Verizon said late Wednesday that service had been fully restored following an hours-long outage that disrupted wireless calls and data for thousands of customers across the United States and temporarily interfered with some 911 calls. Law enforcement sources said there was no indication the disruption was caused by a cyberattack.
Customers began reporting problems around midday Eastern time, according to Downdetector, which tracks user-submitted reports of service interruptions. At its peak, more than 178,000 Verizon customers reported issues, with many users saying their phones displayed “SOS” instead of normal network bars.
The highest concentrations of reports came from major metropolitan areas, including New York City, Atlanta, Charlotte and Houston. By midafternoon, the number of affected users had dropped significantly, and Verizon said teams were on the ground working to resolve the problem. Service was restored late Wednesday night.
Verizon said customers who continue to experience issues should restart their devices to reconnect to the network. The company also said it plans to provide account credits to customers impacted by the outage, though details on eligibility and timing were not immediately released.
The outage raised public safety concerns in some areas. New York City Emergency Management said the disruption affected some users attempting to reach 911. City officials advised residents who could not connect using a Verizon device to use another carrier, a landline, or to report emergencies in person at police precincts or fire stations until service was restored.
Multiple law enforcement agencies examined whether the outage could have been caused by malicious activity, but officials said the evidence pointed to a technical issue rather than a cyberattack or other criminal act. The federal government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency referred inquiries about the incident to Verizon.
Verizon did not immediately disclose the cause of the outage or the number of customers ultimately affected nationwide. The company said it was prepared to work through the night to restore service and emphasized that network stability had been reestablished.
Source: ABC