Verizon Wireless experienced a widespread service outage on Monday, leaving numerous customers across the United States without cellular service. The disruption, which left many phones in “SOS” mode, preventing users from making calls or sending messages, has since been resolved, according to Verizon.
Image alt text: A smartphone screen displaying “SOS” signal strength indicator, symbolizing Verizon wireless service outage impacting connectivity.
The network issues began early Monday morning, with reports surfacing around 9 a.m. EST. Downdetector.com, a website that tracks online outages, recorded a surge of over 66,000 reports by 1:30 p.m. EST, indicating the significant scale of the Verizon Wireless Service Outage. Customers in major metropolitan areas, including Chicago and Indianapolis, appeared to be particularly affected by this Verizon outage. Users reported being unable to access data services and experiencing complete communication blackouts.
Verizon acknowledged the service disruption earlier in the day through a statement on X, confirming they were aware of the network issue affecting some customers. Engineers worked to address the problem, and by Monday night, Verizon announced that service had been fully restored. A Verizon spokesperson stated, “Verizon engineers have fully restored the network disruption that impacted some customers,” and apologized for the inconvenience caused by this Verizon wireless service outage, recognizing the reliance customers place on their services. For any users still experiencing issues, Verizon recommended a simple solution: restarting their devices to reconnect to the restored network.
Image alt text: Downdetector map showing reported locations of Verizon wireless service outage across the United States, highlighting impacted areas.
The cause of the Verizon wireless service outage remains unclear, and the exact number of affected users has not been disclosed. Adding to the scrutiny, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has launched an investigation into the incident. This Verizon outage occurs shortly after a similar widespread outage experienced by rival carrier AT&T in February, which impacted over 70,000 customers and is also under FCC investigation. Interestingly, the Verizon wireless service outage happened just hours after Verizon announced a $3 billion deal involving the leasing and management of its cell towers to a third-party company. Whether these events are related is currently unknown.
The FCC’s investigation into this Verizon wireless service outage will likely focus on the root cause of the disruption and Verizon’s response to the crisis. The investigation also underscores growing concerns about the reliability of critical communication infrastructure and the need for robust network resilience to prevent future widespread service outages.
