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Verizon\u2019s network is experiencing technical issues that are impacting calls and wireless data. Verizon customers on X have reported seeing \u201cSOS\u201d rather than the traditional network bars on their smartphones, and even the network provider\u2019s own status page struggled to load, likely due to the number of customers trying to access it.<\/p>\n
Based on the experience of Verizon users on Engadget\u2019s staff, the services that are impacted appear to be calls and wireless data. Text messages continue to be delivered normally, at least for some users. On DownDetector, reports of a Verizon outage started growing around 12PM ET and numbered in the hundreds of thousands at their peak.<\/p>\n
DownDetector also shows spikes in outage reports on competing networks like AT&T and T-Mobile, but in terms of magnitude, they\u2019re much smaller than the issue Verizon is facing. For example, Verizon peaked at 181,769 reports, while AT&T\u2019s was just 1,769 reports. The difference between the two is great enough that those AT&T reports could be from people trying to contact Verizon customers and thinking that their personal network was the problem.<\/p>\n
In a post on the cell provider\u2019s news account on X, Verizon acknowledged the issues with its network. \u201cWe are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers,\u201d Verizon wrote. \u201cOur engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly. We understand how important reliable connectivity is and apologize for the inconvenience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Based on DownDetector\u2019s map of outage reports, issues with Verizon\u2019s network appear to be concentrated in major cities in the eastern United States. The majority of reports appear to be coming out of Boston, New York and Washington DC, though the map also shows growing hot spots in Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
At 2:14PM ET, Verizon shared on X that its engineering teams \u201cremain fully deployed\u201d to work on fixing the outage. The company didn\u2019t share when the issue would resolved or how many of its customers are currently impacted. Reports on DownDetector have dropped since their peak at 12:43PM ET, but thousands of Verizon customers are still noticing issues with the service.<\/p>\n
As of 3:09PM ET, Verizon has yet to share more information about the recovery of the company\u2019s cell network. Some Verizon customers on X have noticed their cell service returning, but it\u2019s not clear if this means the network\u2019s technical issues have been fixed.<\/p>\n
At 4:06PM ET, nearly two hours since the company\u2019s last statement, at least one member of Engadget\u2019s staff reports their service has been restored. The connectivity issues are still affecting Verizon customers, however. DownDetector received over 55,000 outage reports as recently as 3:47PM ET.<\/p>\n
Verizon posted at 4:12PM ET that work continues on addressing the outage, but the issue hasn\u2019t been completely fixed. According to the company, its team is \u201con the ground actively working to fix today\u2019s service issue that is impacting some customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
As of 4:52PM ET, the Verizon\u2019s network has been experiencing issues for around four hours, making today\u2019s outage nearly as long as the last major outage the company had in 2024. Like that 2024 outage, Verizon has yet to share what exactly is causing the issues with its network. Without out an official update, it\u2019s safe to assume the company is still working on a fix.<\/p>\n
At 5:41PM ET, DownDetector latest tally still shows over 46,000 people reporting issues with Verizon\u2019s network. Based on the platform\u2019s map, the same cities are filing the bulk of the outage reports, though reporting appears more diffuse than before as news of the outage has spread across the country.<\/p>\n
At 6:20PM ET, the situation was much the same. Tens of thousands of users (including Engadget editors) still don\u2019t have proper service, and Verizon had not updated its customers since 4:12PM ET. There are intermittent reports of service coming back and then failing again but seemingly no true fix has been deployed.<\/p>\n
Both T-Mobile and AT&T have confirmed that their own networks are unaffected by the issues facing their competitor. In a post on X, T-Mobile shared that its network is \u201coperating normally and as expected.\u201d Meanwhile, AT&T says that for any of its customers experiencing issues, \u201cit\u2019s not us…it\u2019s the other guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Update, January 14, 7:25PM ET: <\/strong>This article was published as a developing story and was updated multiple times over a period of around seven hours. These updates were additive, and noted with a timestamp within the article. As of writing, Verizon is still down for tens of thousands of users and the company\u2019s support team has not issued an update on the stituation in over three hours. Happy Wednesday!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n