Cellular outages impacting AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile customers across the U.S.

Agencies give guidance on what to do in case of an emergency

Agencies across the country urged for calm amid AT&T’s outage, some acknowledging that customers were briefly unable to contact 911.

Multiple agencies including the San Francisco Fire Department, Texas’ Fort Worth police, Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, Virginia’s Prince William County Police Department, and North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department stressed that their 911 call centers were operational.

“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,” the San Francisco Fire Department said on X, a messaged echoed by other agencies.

Maryland’s Montgomery County Department of Police asked people to refrain from calling 911 to test their cellphones.

“Please only dial 911 for an actual emergency,” the department said.

Agency tasked with monitoring cyber threats is monitoring the situation

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said it is in touch with AT&T but did not say there is any indication of a cyberattack.

“CISA is aware of the reports and we are working closely with AT&T to understand the cause of the outage and its impacts, and stand ready to offer any assistance needed,” Eric Goldstein, the agency’s executive assistant director for cybersecurity, said in an emailed statement.

75% of AT&T’s network has been restored, company says

AT&T is making progress in restoring service to tens of thousands of customers affected by this morning’s nationwide outage.

“Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. Our network teams took immediate action and so far three-quarters of our network has been restored. We are working as quickly as possible to restore service to remaining customers,” the company said in a statement.

Cricket Wireless later issued an identical statement.

Cause of AT&T outage still unclear

AT&T said it is working to resolve the issue and restore service, but did not shed light on what caused the outage.

Some iPhone users are seeing SOS messages on their devices

Some iPhone users have seen SOS messages displayed in the status bar on their cellphones. The message indicates that the device is having trouble connecting to their cellular provider’s network, but it can make emergency calls through other carrier networks, according to Apple Support.

Read the full story here.

By the numbers: Current outages by carrier

Here are where outage numbers stand by provider as of 10 a.m., according to Downdetector, which gathers its information from user-submitted reports, data on social media and other key indicators. 

AT&T: 65,800

Cricket Wireless: 10,400

Verizon: 3,200

T-Mobile: 1,700

Boost: 800

UScellular: 500

Cricket, owned by AT&T, also dealing with outages

Prepaid wireless service provider Cricket Wireless, which is owned by AT&T and uses its networks, is also experiencing outages this morning. 

More than 13,500 customers reported outages around 8 a.m., according to Downdetector. The number has since dipped to 11,500 as of 9:30 a.m. 

Cricket was responding to customer complaints on X by saying: “Allow us to explain that there is a nationwide network incident impacting multiple services. It is Cricket’s top priority to restore service to full capacity as quickly and safely as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.”

Over 70,000 AT&T customers still experiencing outages

The AT&T customer outages started early with about 32,000 customers reporting outages as of 4 a.m. ET, according to tracking site Downdetector.

That number dipped to about 23,000 at 6 a.m., but spiked again hitting 74,000 around 8 a.m.

As of 10 a.m., the number of outages remains around 72,000. 

AT&T’s 5G network reaches 290 million people across the U.S., according to the company’s website. 

911 centers are getting flooded with calls, Massachusetts State Police say

Massachusetts State Police urged those in the state against calling 911 to test if their cell service is working.

“Many 911 centers in the state are getting flooded w/ calls from people trying to see if 911 works from their cell phone,” it said in a post on X. “Please do not do this.”

Atlanta mayor issues statement on AT&T outages

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said city officials are “aware that AT&T is having cellular outages this week” and are “actively gathering information” about how the city can assist in resolving the outages.

Outages appear to be widespread in Atlanta, according to the tracking site Downdetector.

Dickens noted that Atlanta’s e-911 is able to “receive inbound and make outbound calls.”

T-Mobile: ‘We did not experience an outage’

T-Mobile said Downdetector numbers likely reflect customers attempting to reach users on other networks.

“We did not experience an outage,” the company said in a statement. “Our network is operating normally.”

Verizon says it is monitoring the situation

Verizon said that the outages are not affecting its network directly, but customers trying to reach another carrier are experiencing issues. 

“We are continuing to monitor the situation,” the company said.

AT&T recommends Wi-Fi calling until service is restored

AT&T said it is “working urgently to restore service” to customers affected by this morning’s outage.

Until then, customers should use Wi-Fi calling, the company said in a statement.

Cricket Wireless, which is owned by AT&T, released an identical statement.