United States telecommunications companies faced service outages on Thursday

A significant cellphone outage disrupted users across the United States, primarily affecting AT&T customers, who reported nearly 32,000 issues around 04:30 on Thursday, as per DownDetector data. T-Mobile and Verizon also experienced over 800 service outages combined.

The problem spanned from the East Coast to the West Coast, including cities like New York, Boston, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Seattle, with some impact even felt in Montreal, Canada.

Users found themselves stuck in “SOS Mode,” limiting them to contacting emergency services only. Several police stations warned of potential difficulties in reaching emergency services.

“Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning,” an AT&T spokesperson said in a statement according to CNN.

“We are working urgently to restore service to them. We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”

Verizon’s statement

Despite this, Verizon stated that its network is functioning normally, suggesting issues arise when attempting to communicate with users on other telecom networks.

“Verizon’s network is operating normally,” Verizon told CNN.

“Some customers experienced issues this morning when calling or texting with customers served by another carrier. We are continuing to monitor the situation.”

Frustration among users grew as the outage persisted, with no official statements issued by the service providers.