Shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday, people across the U.S. began reporting no cellphone or internet service. The highest number of people affected was around 5 a.m., although some people started having problems earlier.
According to Downdetector, an online platform that provides real-time information about various online services, customers of AT&T seem to be the most affected, but customers of various carriers are reporting problems. At its peak, T-Mobile had about 2,000 reports, Verizon had about 4,000 reports and Cricket Wireless (owned by AT&T) had about 13,000 reports, according to the platform, while AT&T’s It is said that there were more than 73,000 cases.
Jesus E. Montoya, a doctoral student in educational leadership at the University of Southern California, was studying when his AT&T data and internet service went out at exactly 1 a.m., forcing him to stay up all night. He said that he no longer had any money.
“I was hoping to go a little further, maybe until 1:30.” [a.m.], which helped me finish my studies quickly,” he said. “I was really confused as to why I didn’t have internet service on both my phone and my home internet.”
A few hours later, at 8:15 a.m., AT&T posted an update on its website saying it was aware of the problem but that “three-quarters of [the] The network has been restored. ”
Montoya said service had been restored by the time he woke up this morning, but he didn’t know when it would be restored.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) social media posts X, formerly known as Twitter.
“We are aware of reports of radio interference and the Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security is actively investigating,” the post said. “We are in contact with AT&T, public safety authorities including FirstNet, and other providers.”
Shan’ann Jones, a sophomore health promotion and disease prevention research major in AT&T Cell Phone Services, was FaceTiming with her brother last night when she noticed an “SOS” symbol on her iPhone. He said he saw it.
“I was confused,” she said. “I had no idea. I hadn’t heard anything about it. [the outage.]”
Jones said she didn’t feel significantly affected because her Wi-Fi was still working and she was able to continue video calls.
At 12:10 p.m., AT&T reported that it had restored wireless to all affected customers.
“We sincerely apologize to them,” the company said in a statement. “Staying connected to our customers is our top priority and we are taking steps to ensure they never experience something like this again in the future.”
Cricket Wireless shared AT&T’s statement on its website.
By contrast, Verizon and T-Mobile each said their networks were “fully operational” and “operating normally.” In a statement, the companies suggested that the problems reported with Downdetector are an issue for people trying to connect to “users on other networks” or “users served by another carrier.” .
Questions remain as to whether this will have a material impact on AT&T in the future, but Jones said he is “not really considering” switching providers.
At 4:46 p.m., AT&T said the outage was likely not the result of an external attack.
“Based on our initial investigation, we believe today’s outage was not caused by a cyberattack, but rather by the incorrect application and execution of processes used when expanding our network,” the company said. “We are continuing to assess today’s outage to ensure we continue to provide the service our customers deserve.”
The answer was one that Montoya, a doctoral student, wanted to know more about.
“I was reading the reports this morning, and even AT&T doesn’t know what happened,” he said before issuing the statement. “That’s very concerning… [I] I want to know exactly what happened. ”
