Verizon has restored service following a major outage that affected thousands of customers across the U.S., with the FCC investigating the cause.
Just ten days after a previous network disruption, Verizon customers across the United States experienced another major service outage on October 10, 2024. The latest outage saw service interruptions reported, particularly impacting the Great Plains region, with a noticeable spike in reported outages at 1:00 PM ET. According to Down Detector, more than 1,500 reports came in at the peak of the outage, affecting voice calls, internet access, and even causing SOS signals to appear on some phones.
Verizon confirmed that the root of the issue was in states like Nebraska and Minnesota, though disruptions were also reported in major cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. By 3:30 PM ET, Verizon announced that the problem had been resolved, with service gradually being restored to normal levels.
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On September 30, CNN released a story on Verizon’s first outage. In the article, Verizon confirmed that its cell service has been restored following a major outage that affected mobile phone customers across the United States. The outage began around 11 AM ET and resulted in over 100,000 reports of service disruption on DownDetector. Many customers, particularly iPhone users, were frustrated by their phones being stuck in “SOS” mode, allowing only emergency calls via satellite.
Verizon apologized for the inconvenience and advised customers to restart their devices if they continued to experience issues.
On October 10, Down Detector tracked fluctuations in outage reports, demonstrating a particularly significant impact on the East and West Coasts. Despite fewer reports than the previous outage on September 30, this disruption still caused notable problems for Verizon customers across the country.
Verizon's network status tool echoed Down Detector’s findings, showing ongoing issues in cities such as Seattle and Washington, DC. The company’s tool indicated reduced data speeds and limited 5G service in these areas, though some regions like Los Angeles were reported as unaffected. Verizon’s inability to provide a comprehensive real-time update on all affected regions caused frustration among its customers.
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According to Techradar, Verizon's first public acknowledgment of the issue came with a statement:
"We are aware of an issue impacting some customers in a couple of states in the Great Plains region. Our engineers are engaged and we are working quickly to resolve the issue."
Following the restoration of service, a second statement confirmed the resolution:
"Some Verizon customers in Minnesota and Nebraska experienced a brief service interruption today. Engineers were able to identify and resolve the issue and service was restored by 3:30 PM ET."
Despite these reassurances, Verizon has yet to fully explain the cause of the outages or address reports of ongoing issues in other parts of the country. The company’s social media accounts have also remained relatively quiet on the matter, responding to individual customer complaints but not making a broad public statement.
Being the second significant network disruption for Verizon in less than two weeks, this raises concerns about the reliability of one of the United States’ largest mobile carriers. With widespread use of mobile networks for business, emergency communication, and daily life, service outages like these can cause major disruptions. Customers have taken to social media platforms to express frustration, with many questioning the carrier's ability to prevent these repeated outages.
In addition to individual users, businesses that rely on Verizon’s network for communication and transactions could face financial consequences from these outages. The fact that other major carriers, like AT&T and T-Mobile, did not experience similar spikes in reported outages during this period may further tarnish Verizon’s reputation.
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A service outage is when a network or utility, such as mobile phone service or internet, experiences a disruption, causing users to lose access temporarily.
Service outages can happen due to a variety of reasons, including network overload, technical or hardware failures, severe weather conditions, software updates, or even cyberattacks.
Yes, even during a service outage, your phone should still be able to connect to 911 or other emergency services through 'SOS' mode or another available network.