Verizon Wireless Outage Resolved After Hours of Service Disruption

Wednesday night marked the end of a nationwide Verizon Wireless outage that left many customers without service, some for over 12 hours, with tens of thousands of phones displaying SOS mode.

“The issue has been fixed. If customers still face problems, we suggest restarting their devices and reconnecting to the network,” Verizon announced on social media around 10:20 p.m.

As compensation, the company stated, “For those impacted, we will offer account credits. Details will be shared directly with customers, and we sincerely apologize for the confusion.”

At its peak, the outage saw more than 175,000 reports across the country on Downdetector. It started affecting customers around 9 a.m. ET, with complaints gaining traction on social media around noon.

Frustrated customers expressed their anger as their phones remained in SOS mode, lacking both calls and service bars.

This interruption also triggered emergency alerts in major cities like New York and Washington, D.C., cautioning that Verizon customers had difficulties reaching 911.

About an hour before the issue was resolved, Verizon addressed the discontent, stating, “We are truly sorry that we disappointed so many of our customers today. They expect more from us. We are working tirelessly to move forward.”

The company assured customers that they would “make this right” by providing account credits for those affected. They mentioned that specifics regarding the credits would be communicated directly to the customers.

Meanwhile, Republican New York Congressman Anil Befan Jr. announced that he has requested an investigation from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) into what he termed “recurrent Verizon wireless outages over the past year,” stressing they pose a “serious threat” to public safety.

In correspondence to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, Befan expressed that the outage “significantly impacted public safety, disrupting reliable access to emergency communications and critical response systems.”

He also noted, “Beyond public safety concerns, these outages create ongoing issues for residents, businesses, and local institutions that rely on wireless service for work, healthcare access, education, and daily operations.”

Earlier, the FCC acknowledged the situation, stating, “We are aware that today’s wireless outages are affecting some Verizon customers.” They added that they continue to monitor the circumstances closely.