The Verizon outage disrupts cell phone service in the US, including some 911 calls

Clients of the telecom giant Verizon They began reporting cellular service outages across the United States starting around noon ET on Wednesday, saying they couldn’t complete calls and didn’t have access to mobile data. Verizon broadband internet customers are also reporting issues. AT&T and T-Mobile customers also began reporting service outages in the same time frame, but these reports may be related to the Verizon outage.

“We are aware of an issue affecting some customers’ wireless voice and data services. Our engineers are engaged and working to quickly identify and resolve the issue,” Verizon spokeswoman Christina Mon-Ashraf told WIRED in a statement.

A T-Mobile spokesperson told WIRED in a statement that its service is “functioning optimally” but added that T-Mobile customers “may not be able to reach someone with Verizon service at this time.” AT&T did not immediately respond to WIRED’s requests for comment.

Outage tracking website DownDetector It showed a significant spike in reports of service outages for all three major US mobile phone carriers.

Many customers on iOS and Android devices have reported that their phones are in SOS mode, which means they can only make emergency calls. However, in practice, some reports suggest that the mode may also prevent 911 calls.

The official emergency alert channel in Washington, DC He said in another At 12:57 p.m. ET, D.C.’s Office of Unified Communications “is aware of a nationwide Verizon Wireless outage that may impact some users to call 911. If you have an emergency and cannot call using your Verizon Wireless device, please call using a device from another carrier, a landline, or go to a precinct police or fire station to report the emergency.”

Similar incidents have occurred in the past, where A A power outage at one carrier appears to involve multiple connectionsdue to the side effects when a downed carrier is unable to route calls and data from other service providers’ customers.

This story is evolving. Check back for updates.