Verizon Outage Investigated by Authorities
Federal and local officials looking into Verizon’s extensive outage are increasingly focusing on a suspected server failure in New Jersey, although the company has not yet confirmed the exact cause.
On Wednesday evening, the telecom provider expressed regret for the significant disruption that affected phones across the nation and led to issues with some 911 calls.
The outage began in the afternoon and extended until midnight, prompting numerous complaints from customers who reported their phones going into SOS mode, experiencing dropped calls, and losing mobile data.
At the peak of the disruption, over 178,000 Verizon users reported problems, with data from Downdetector highlighting significant outages in cities like New York, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Houston.
Initially, several law enforcement agencies considered the possibility of a cyberattack, but this idea was ultimately dismissed. Authorities suggested the issue likely stemmed from an internal network problem linked to the server in New Jersey.
As reports of outages grew, users took to social media to express their frustration about the service being unavailable for much of the day. Some reported brief moments of recovery only to find their phones reverting back to SOS mode. Others faced challenges in making calls or getting in touch with family members.
The situation became serious enough that the New York City Emergency Management Agency alerted residents that some Verizon customers could not reach 911 and recommended using alternative carriers, landlines, or going directly to emergency services.
By late Wednesday night, Verizon stated that the problem had been fixed, as engineers worked diligently to restore service throughout the network.
A Verizon representative mentioned, “The issue has been resolved. We advise customers still facing problems to restart their devices and re-establish a connection.” They also added that account credits would be offered to those affected and that further details would be communicated directly. The company apologized for the inconvenience.”
