Verizon customers across the United States faced big problems connecting to the wireless network on Monday morning (September 30). Many users reported that their phone service was down, and their devices were stuck in "SOS" mode, which only allows emergency calls, like to 911.
By 10:11 a.m. ET, over 100,000 reports of outages were logged on DownDetector, a site that tracks service problems for various companies. Customers from cities all over the country, including New York and Los Angeles, reported serious issues with their mobile phone service.
Verizon Customers Express Frustration Over Service Disruptions
Problems began around 9 a.m. ET, and many customers turned to social media to express their frustrations and request refunds from Verizon.
Some customers felt they deserved compensation due to the service disruptions and expressed disappointment about not receiving enough information from Verizon. Others reported specific issues, like an emergency situation in Ohio, where they lost service during their drive to work.
Verizon responded by saying that its engineers were working quickly to find and fix the problem. Later in the afternoon, the company announced that service restoration was underway, meaning they were starting to fix the network issues. They acknowledged how important their services are to customers and apologized for the disruptions.
The SOS mode on mobile phones is designed for emergencies and helps users reach services like 911 by connecting to other carriers. However, many customers were frustrated because the outage made it impossible for them to receive text messages for two-factor authentication, which is a security step many companies use to protect accounts.
As of 4:30 p.m. ET, Verizon's posts about the outage on social media received a lot of attention, with customers expressing dissatisfaction, said CBS News. Many reported difficulties making business calls or rescheduling appointments. Some customers even mentioned considering switching to another phone carrier because of this outage.
By Monday evening, Verizon announced that it had fully restored service after the outage. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stated that it would investigate the cause and extent of the disruptions. Earlier in the day, Downdetector recorded over 100,000 outage reports, but by 8 p.m. ET, that number dropped to about 2,500.
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Verizon Advises Device Restarts
Verizon also advised customers to restart their devices if they continued having problems. The company had previously acknowledged the issue and assured customers that their engineers were working quickly to fix it.
The FCC is investigating the situation, and officials from T-Mobile and AT&T reported that their networks were functioning properly, according to USA Today. Cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, Omaha, and Washington DC reported significant issues.
The outage happened shortly after Verizon announced a $3.3 billion deal with Vertical Bridge to manage over 6,000 mobile towers across the country.
Outages, while not common, have frustrated many customers this year. Earlier in February, AT&T experienced a major outage that lasted more than 12 hours, affecting over 70,000 people. The FCC is looking into that incident, which disrupted many calls and emergency services.
Experts say that network outages can happen for several reasons, including crowded networks in busy areas, software updates, or other technical issues. However, telecommunications companies often do not provide detailed explanations about why their services are interrupted, which can be especially frustrating for users who rely on their phones for work or emergencies.
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