Early Thursday morning, thousands of AT&T users in the United States found themselves disconnected, facing disruptions to calls, texts, and even emergency services in major cities like San Francisco.
AT&T swiftly acknowledged the issue, stating, “Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. We are working urgently to restore service to them. We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”
Reports from outage tracking website Downdetector.com indicated more than 50,000 incidents around 7:00 a.m. ET, highlighting the scale of the disruption.
While Verizon, T-Mobile, and UScellular users also reported some disruptions, they were far less severe compared to AT&T, according to Downdetector.
T-Mobile clarified that it did not experience an outage, suggesting that Downdetector’s data might reflect challenges customers faced in connecting to users on other networks.
However, the impact of the AT&T outage went beyond inconvenience, affecting people’s ability to reach emergency services by dialing 911. The San Francisco Fire Department confirmed the issue, stating, “We are aware of an issue impacting AT&T wireless customers from making and receiving any phone calls (including to 911).”
Verizon, on the other hand, maintained that its network was unaffected and that its customers were only impacted when trying to connect with carriers experiencing problems.
The nature of the issue with AT&T and the other affected carriers was not immediately clear, highlighting the vulnerability of modern communication networks to disruptions and the importance of swift and effective responses in restoring services.
(Source: Reuters | USA Today | CNN)
