Wireless service restored for all AT&T customers affected by nationwide outage (2024)

AT&T: 'We have restored wireless service to all our affected customers'

Most outages appeared to be resolved by the afternoon, according to Downdetector data.

AT&T:3,600

Cricket Wireless:600

Verizon:850

T-Mobile:500

Boost:60

UScellular:100

In today's White House news conference, John Kirby, the assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, told reporters that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security were assisting the Federal Communications Commission with its investigation into what caused today's outage.

Kirby said the FBI and DHS "are working with the tech industry (and) these network providers to see what we can do from a federal perspective to lend (a) hand to their investigative efforts to figure out what happened here."

Kirby added that there were not yet firm answers as to the outage's origins.

"This just happened earlier today," he said. "And so we’re working very hard to see if we can get to the ground truth and exactly what happened."

"I know folks in (the) industry are working hard to get restoration of services to those that are still without those services," Kirby said.

The Federal Communications Commission says it is actively investigating the AT&T outage.

"We are aware of the reported wireless outages, and our Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau is actively investigating. We are in touch with AT&T and public safety authorities, including FirstNet, as well as other providers," said the FCC, which oversees communication by radio, wire, satellite and cable across the country.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agencyis also monitoring the situation.

While AT&T works to figure out what caused the outage for customers in major cities, users are resorting to using “SOS mode,” which enables emergency services and shares your location.

Read the full story here.

NBC’s Brian Cheung reports that emergency services is calling on users not to call 911 to test if phones are connected to the network.

AT&T has not said what caused today's nationwide outage.

However, Lee McKnight, an associate professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, said the most likely cause “is a cloud misconfiguration. Which is a fancy word for saying human error.”

“A possible but far less likely outcome is an intentional malicious hack of ATT’s network, but the diffuse pattern of outages across the country suggests something more fundamental,” he added in a statement.

Outages have declined steadily today.

Here are the latest numbers, according to Downdetector.

AT&T: 16,700

Cricket Wireless:3,100

Verizon:1,300

T-Mobile:800

Boost:270

UScellular:130

Agencies across the country urged for calm amid AT&T's outage, some acknowledging that customers were briefly unable to contact 911.

Multiple agencies including the San Francisco Fire Department, Texas’ Fort Worth police, Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, Virginia’sPrince William County Police Department, and North Carolina’sCharlotte-Mecklenburg Police Departmentstressed that their 911 call centers were operational.

“If you are an AT&T customer and cannot get through to 911, then please try calling from a landline. If that is not an option then please try to get ahold of a friend or family member who is a customer of a different carrier and ask them to call 911 on your behalf,” the San Francisco Fire Department said on X, a messaged echoed by other agencies.

Maryland's Montgomery County Department of Police asked people to refrain from calling 911 to test their cellphones.

"Please only dial 911 for an actual emergency," the department said.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said it is in touch with AT&T but did not say there is any indication of a cyberattack.

“CISA is aware of the reports and we are working closely with AT&T to understand the cause of the outage and its impacts, and stand ready to offer any assistance needed,” Eric Goldstein, the agency’s executive assistant director for cybersecurity, said in an emailed statement.

AT&T is making progress in restoring service to tens of thousands of customers affected by this morning's nationwide outage.

"Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. Our network teams took immediate action and so far three-quarters of our network has been restored. We are working as quickly as possible to restore service to remaining customers," the company said in a statement.

Cricket Wireless later issued an identical statement.

AT&T said it is working to resolve the issue and restore service, but did not shed light on what caused the outage.

Some iPhone users have seen SOS messages displayed in the status bar on their cellphones. The message indicates that the device is having trouble connecting to their cellular provider’s network, but it can make emergency calls through other carrier networks, according to Apple Support.

Read the full story here.

Here are where outage numbers stand by provider as of 10 a.m., according to Downdetector, which gathers its information from user-submitted reports, data on social media and other key indicators.

AT&T: 65,800

Cricket Wireless: 10,400

Verizon: 3,200

T-Mobile: 1,700

Boost: 800

UScellular: 500

Prepaid wireless service provider Cricket Wireless, which is owned by AT&T and uses its networks, is also experiencing outages this morning.

More than 13,500 customers reported outages around 8 a.m., according to Downdetector. The number has since dipped to 11,500as of 9:30 a.m.

Cricket was responding to customer complaints on X by saying: "Allow us to explain that there is a nationwide network incident impacting multiple services. It is Cricket’s top priority to restore service to full capacity as quickly and safely as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused."

The AT&T customer outages started early with about 32,000 customers reporting outages as of 4 a.m. ET, according to tracking site Downdetector.

That number dipped to about 23,000 at 6 a.m., but spiked again hitting 74,000 around 8 a.m.

As of 10 a.m., the number of outages remains around 72,000.

AT&T’s 5G network reaches 290 million people across the U.S., according to the company’s website.

Massachusetts State Police urged those in the state against calling 911 to test if their cell service is working.

"Many 911 centers in the state are getting flooded w/ calls from people trying to see if 911 works from their cell phone," it said in a post on X. "Please do not do this."

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said city officials are "aware that AT&T is having cellular outages this week" and are "actively gathering information" about how the city can assist in resolving the outages.

Outages appear to be widespread in Atlanta, according to the tracking site Downdetector.

Dickens noted that Atlanta's e-911 is able to "receive inbound and make outbound calls."

T-Mobile said Downdetector numbers likely reflect customers attempting to reach users on other networks.

"We did not experience an outage," the company said in a statement. "Our network is operating normally."

Verizon said that the outages are not affecting its network directly, but customers trying to reach another carrier are experiencing issues.

“We are continuing to monitor the situation,” the company said.

AT&T said it is "working urgently to restore service" to customers affected by this morning's outage.

Until then, customers should use Wi-Fi calling, the company said in a statement.

Cricket Wireless, which is owned by AT&T, released an identical statement.