UPDATE:At 11:45 am ET, 75% of the AT&T network has been restored according to the nation's third-largest wireless carrier. Verizon and T-Mobile say that their networks are running normally.
U.S. wireless providers are down on Thursday morning according to DownDetector. The latter's website shows that it has received complaints from AT&T, Cricket, Verizon, and T-Mobile subscribers complaining that service is down. Also affected is AT&T's FirstNet service for first responders. In some areas, 911 services can be reached by cellphone users. The outages all started at the same time, approximately just before 5 am ET (2 am PT).
Smaller MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) that don't have their own network and depend on services from AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile such as Cricket, and Straight Talk are down. There is concern that the outages are the result of a cyberattack although there is no reason at the moment, other than the breadth of the issues, to expect this to be the reason why multiple carriers are down. Others checked to make sure that they had paid their wireless bill on time and weren't being cut off for not paying.
The number of complaints submitted by AT&T subscribers on DownDetector soared from 11 to over 32,000
On DownDetector, the number of complaints it received about lack of service from subscribers soared from 11 at 3:18 am ET to over 32,000 by 4:33 am. 56% of the complaints were due to issues with subscribers' mobile phone service, 35% reported having no signal, and 8% could not access the mobile internet. The outages have been reported by AT&T subscribers in Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Dallas, San Antonio, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Louisville, and San Francisco.
DownDetector shows multiple wireless providers down on Thursday morning
In a statement, an AT&T spokesman said, "Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. We are working urgently to restore service to them. We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored." With Wi-Fi calling, phone calls are made through your Wi-Fi connection instead of going through a cellular connection.
44% of T-Mobile subscribers reported that they could not get a signal to DownDetector while 31% could not access their 5G home internet service. 25% of those submitting a report complained about a lack of mobile internet service. T-Mobile outages were reported in Los Angeles, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Chicago, New York City, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Miami.
T-Mobile says that it did not experience an outage today and a T-Mobile spokesman said, "Our network is operating mormally. DownDetector is likely reflecting challenges our customers were having attempting to connect to users on other networks."
Verizon subscribers reported problems using their mobile phones (59%), the inability to get a signal (21%), and were unable to access their 5G home internet service (20%). Locations reporting problems with Verizon included Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Spokane, and Atlanta. A Verizon spokesman told The New York Post that its network is "operating as normal" and the issues are taking place when a Verizon customer tries to call and text someone signed up with service from another carrier.
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For those in the U.S. unable to send a text message through their wireless provider, if you have Wi-Fi that is not connected to a wireless firm, make sure your phone is connected and if your recipient is also connected to a non-carrier Wi-Fi signal, you should be able to communicate.
iPhone users on AT&T saw their phones go into "SOS mode"
On "X," a subscriber with the user name @Dangerous4_ summed up how many Americans are feeling at the moment without wireless service. He wrote, "This is crazy it’s a whole #outage going in the US and a lot of people can’t text or call anybody only number you can call is 911 .. this is unusual and scary."
This iPhone has Verizon's Wi-Fi calling enabled
Across the nation, many AT&T iPhone units were forced into "SOS mode" due to the outage with "SOS" spotted in the status bar on the upper right corner of the display where normally you would see the bars indicating the strength of the cellular service that the iPhone is connected to. In "SOS mode," iPhone users can not make or receive phone calls, but they can still dial 911 to make an emergency SOS call.
While no reason for the outage has been announced yet, it is becoming clearer that the issue has to do with AT&T's network.
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
