What’s happening with AT&T? Angry wireless users left in the lurch as major outage drags on

Cellphone service was down for AT&T customers this morning in a significant outage that ensnarled wireless communications across the United States for several hours.



Many customers began reporting issues to the network starting around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday. By late morning, the website Down Detector had registered more than 70,000 complaints connected to AT&T service, with no definitive word as to what was causing the disruption.



In a statement to Fast Company, an AT&T spokesperson acknowledged the issue and said the company was working to resolve it.



“Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning,” the spokesperson said. “We are working urgently to restore service to them. We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”



The outages were still ongoing at press time.



A number of customers on other networks, including those operated by T-Mobile and Verizon, also reported outages this morning. However, both carriers claim that their networks were not impacted by AT&T’s outage and that the issue may have been that the customers could not reach individuals on AT&T. The issue does appear to be impacting wireless customers who use Cricket, which is owned by AT&T and runs on AT&T’s network.



The widespread outage comes after a number of smaller, sporadic outages were reported over the past few days.



Wireless networks rarely disclose the reason for their outages; however, major disruptions like this one are also very rare. Speaking with an industry source who asked to remain anonymous, CNN suggests that the issue has to do with how AT&T hands off a call from one network to another, a process that’s called peering.



The issue has not only impacted individual customers but has also emergency services in some areas that rely on AT&T’s network, although AT&T has indicated that its FirstNet Network—which provides service for first responders—has remained operational. Impacted customers are also unable to place 911 calls from AT&T phones.



The Massachusetts State Police posted on Twitter/X that a number of customers in the state were testing their ability to call 911, ultimately flooding 911 call centers in the state.




Many 911 centers in the state are getting flooded w/ calls from people trying to see if 911 works from their cell phone. Please do not do this. If you can successfully place a non-emergency call to another number via your cell service then your 911 service will also work. #outage — Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) February 22, 2024




That sentiment was also shared by San Francisco’s police department on the social network:




We are aware of an issue impacting AT&T wireless customers from making and receiving any phone calls (including to 911). We are actively engaged and monitoring this.The San Francisco 911 center is still operational.If you are an AT&T customer and cannot get through to 911,… pic.twitter.com/TUIEBkqmkI — SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) February 22, 2024




As of 11 a.m., 72,000 customers have reported outages, with the most widespread issues reported in Houston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.



AT&T has not provided a timeline for when coverage will likely be restored.