AT&T Cell Service Outage Impacts Over 70,000 Subscribers Across The US
Update 2/22/2024: An earlier version of this article indicated that several carriers across the US, including Verizon and T-Mobile, were experiencing outages alongside AT&T. Representatives for Verizon and T-Mobile have told NBC News that users reporting outages with their networks were trying to contact AT&T users, so it appears that other networks remain largely unaffected.
The United States seems to have been impacted by a major cellphone outage, with AT&T customers seemingly being the most affected. The outage appeared to start at around 3am ET on Thursday, February 22. Five hours on, there is still no firm word on when service will resume. AT&T has reported several smaller outages over the last few days.
Outages at the networks were first reported on DownDetector — a website where users self-report service problems related to websites, internet providers, and cell services. Though reports on DownDetector only indicate the location the report has come from, and can't be used to give an exact map of where the problems are occurring, the outage appears to affect more people in the southern United States. Cities like Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas are reporting large drops in service. These spots are more prominent, despite the likes of New York and Los Angeles having far higher populations. Even with these hot spots in mind, outages seem to be hitting people across the country.
What to do if your service is impacted
In addition to the drop in cell service, several news outlets are reporting that 911 services have been experiencing outages over the same period. For instance, while San Francisco's fire department says that its 911 center is still operational, a number of AT&T customers have reported that they can't even make 911 calls. SFFD has suggested people try using a landline, or have a friend, neighbor, or relative call from a different network, should they find themselves in an emergency.
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
If you have working WiFi, using your phone's Wi-Fi calling feature may allow you to place calls without a working network service. If that doesn't work, services like Google Voice can be used to place calls over Wi-Fi. If you just need to contact a friend or relative, then messaging services like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, or anything similar should also work, provided you have an internet connection.
DownDetector also shows a climb in outage reports, though this doesn't necessarily mean the situation is getting worse. Since the outage started at around 3am, it's more likely an increased number of people are waking up, noticing their cell service is down, and reporting it.