U.S. mobile phone users who use a variety of carriers have reported widespread outages since early Thursday morning nationwide.
Some have said the outage is so severe they are unable to even dial 911.
Beginning before 3:30 a.m. ET, the outages were first reported widely across social media. They appeared to mostly affect AT&T subscribers.
BREAKING…. AT&T Phone Network is DOWN. Cannot make or receive phone calls, texting still works. Seems to be nationwide. Viewer from Alaska said he has no cell service also.
Happened Exactly At 4am. @FOX29philly @ATT pic.twitter.com/PgNnFs0HsT— Bob Kelly (@BobKellyFOX29) February 22, 2024
People with iPhones reported no service while their phones were in SOS mode — meaning they could place only emergency calls.
This @ATT outage is frightening. People can’t call 911 right now.
— Liam Martin (@LiamWBZ) February 22, 2024
Many of those who reported being connected to WiFi said they were still able to send text messages using the Apple iMessage feature.
According to Down Detector, the wireless carriers that have seen customers report service outages include the following:
• AT&T
• Cricket
• Verizon
• T-Mobil
• Consumer Cellular
• Boost Mobile
• U.S. Cellular
• Straight Talk
• FirstNet
• TracFone
• Mint Mobile
I also have reports that people can’t call 911 at the moment. https://t.co/Vw6sZtmc8g
— DASH (@DocumentingATX) February 22, 2024
Reported outages for AT&T began early and had spiked to nearly 80,000 on Down Detector by 8 a.m. ET.
Verizon and other carriers saw consumers report fewer service blackouts, but reports were filed at around similar times to those of AT&T.
According to The New York Times, AT&T addressed the issue with a statement Thursday without giving an estimate of when service would be restored.
“We are working urgently to restore service to them,” the company said of customers experiencing problems. “We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”
Meanwhile, Verizon and T-Mobile claimed their networks were operating normally, the Times reported.
The outages have been reported from Alaska to California to the Eastern Seaboard and just about everywhere in between.
What could have caused this massive outage with Att???#outage #att pic.twitter.com/WTfrCGx6T3
— Emu (@Emuu_Khan) February 22, 2024
It was not known exactly what was happening to much of the country’s mobile networks.
The tag “#CyberAttack” did trend on X on Thursday morning, along with the tags “#Outage,” “#Nationwide” and “#FIX IT.”
