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Verizon experienced an outage on Wednesday, with a reported 175,000 customers unable to use their devices.
In a comment to CNET, Verizon confirmed the interruption, stating, "Verizon engineering teams are continuing to address today's service interruptions. Our teams remain fully deployed and are focused on the issue. We understand the impact this has on your day and remain committed to resolving this as quickly as possible."
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The outage caused phones to become stuck in SOS mode. Although the outage is slowly beginning to resolve, with some users getting service back on their phones, others are claiming on Downdetector that their phone began briefly working again, but then went back into SOS mode. User reports on Downdetector peaked at just over 180,000.
"I heard that people are getting service back but can't make any calls or do anything, that happened to me to here in Tampa, came back for 3 minutes then immediately went back into SOS," one commenter wrote. (Disclosure: Downdetector is owned by Ziff Davis, the same parent company as CNET.)
A statement on Verizon's website currently says, "Verizon is aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers. We are working to restore service quickly."
For mission-critical cellular access, it might be worth rocking two eSIMs on the same phone
By Jeff Carlson
In cellular settings on an iPhone, you can set up multiple eSIMs.
Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNETA cellular outage, like the one affecting Verizon, is annoying, though usually temporary. But what if you absolutely need to stay in contact without interruption? In the past, we might have suggested carrying multiple phones. Instead, perhaps it's time to consider running two providers' plans on the same phone.
The shift from physical SIM cards to eSIMs, which are just stored in memory, means you can load up a single phone with two or more mobile plans. This is the approach people use when they travel to other countries for local phone and data service, without having to track down a physical card.
You don't need to load up on each company's unlimited phone plans (unless it's critical that you can stream your favorite shows from anywhere). It can be cost-effective to set up a budget-friendly phone plan as a secondary eSIM that offers basic features and high-speed data allowances.
When an outage hits or you find yourself in an area with spotty coverage from your primary provider, you can switch to the alternate and stay connected.
T-Mobile warns that Verizon's outage might cause calls not to go through
By Patrick Holland
T-Mobile responds to the Verizon network outage.
Joseph Maldonado/CNET"T-Mobile's network is keeping our customers connected, and we've confirmed that our network is operating normally and as expected. However due to Verizon's reported outage, our customers may not be able to reach someone with Verizon service at this time," a T-Mobile spokesperson told CNET.
Verizon service is 'totally borked' for some CNET staff
By Patrick Holland
CNET's Josh Goldman has been hit by Verizon's service outage.
Screenshot by Josh Goldman/CNETVerizon's network outage has hit several CNET staffers, especially in New Jersey. Managing Editor Josh Goldman reports no Verizon service. CNET editor-at-large Scott Stein is without Verizon service in Montclair, NJ, all the while pondering whether this is "the end of phones."
"My service is also totally borked here in Jersey City, still," said CNET writer Tyler Graham. "Haven't been able to get a call through to my mom today, bleh."
CNET Editor-in-Chief David Katzmaier, who is based in Long Island, NY, shared that his daughter is experiencing dropped calls to her friends. "My teenage daughter just told me, 'When I called my friends today, I just went straight to call failed. But now sometimes it works.'"
AT&T on Verizon's outage: 'It's not us, it's the other guys'
By Patrick Holland
AT&T is using Verizon's outage as a way to push its own service.
AT&T/Screenshot by Patrick Holland/CNETCheck Verizon's network status map
By Patrick Holland
Verizon Outage Could Leave Your iPhone Stuck in SOS Mode. Here's the Fix
By Nelson Aguilar
If you notice that your iPhone is in SOS mode, here's what that means and what you can do.
Kevin Heinz/CNETA portion of Verizon's network crumpled on Wednesday, with up to 175,000 customers seeing "SOS" in their phones' status bars instead of connection bars. Network outages are nothing new, but these days they often don't reach this type of scale.
Unfortunately, when the network is down, there's not a lot you can do to get reconnected -- you have to wait for service to resume. But those three alarming letters on your iPhone can still make anyone anxious.
According to Downdetector, the Verizon outage is getting resolved. If you were affected, you may experience another issue: The "SOS" message could continue to appear even after the network is restored.
Take a look at this story to learn what you can do when your iPhone gets stuck in Emergency SOS mode, even when service is back online.
Verizon outage demonstrates why you still need a landline
By Corinne Reichert
Verizon is aware that outage is a 'huge inconvenience'
By Patrick Holland
Here's what Verizon posted about today's outage to its Verizon News account on X.
Verizon/Screenshot by Patrick Holland/CNETVerizon is aware of the outage and says that its team is working on a fix, according to a post from X user Verizon News.
"Verizon's team is on the ground actively working to fix today's service issue that is impacting some customers. We know this is a huge inconvenience, and our top priority is to get you back online and connected as fast as possible. We appreciate your patience while we work to resolve this issue."
