A massive AT&T network outage left many thousands of customers across the U.S. without cell service or internet access Thursday morning. Lesser outages in the Verizon and T-Mobile cell networks have also been widely reported.
NBC News reports that widespread cell service outages impacted AT&T customers across the United States Thursday morning. The outages left thousands unable to make calls, access the internet, or reach 911 emergency services.
Man with umbrella stands in front of AT&T logo (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
The issues began around 4:00 a.m. ET and surged just before 8:00 a.m., with over 71,000 reported outages, according to Downdetector. Most affected areas included major cities like Houston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Verizon and T-Mobile also faced disruptions, though not as severe as AT&T.
“Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning,” AT&T acknowledged in a statement. “We are working urgently to restore service to them. We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”
The outages meant some AT&T customers were briefly unable to contact 911 emergency services. The San Francisco Fire Department warned the public that “If you are an AT&T customer and cannot get through to 911, then please try calling from a landline. If that is not an option then please try to get ahold of a friend or family member who is a customer of a different carrier and ask them to call 911 on your behalf.” Police departments in Chicago, Virginia, and North Carolina issued similar alerts.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said that city is gathering information on the outage in an attempt to resole the issue. “Atlanta’s e-911 is able to receive inbound and make outbound calls. We have received calls from AT&T customers that their cellular phones are in SOS mode,” Dickens said.
It remains unclear what triggered AT&T’s technical problems. As of 10:00 a.m. ET Thursday morning, Downdetector showed AT&T outages dropping to under 15,000 reports. The company said technicians continue working to restore services across the affected areas.
Read more at NBC News here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
