AT&T It has been resolved a widespread outage that had affected more than 70,000 customers as of 8 a.m. ET, according to Downdetector tracking site. Most of these issues focused on Houston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. This affected cell service and data connections, and many customers noticed that they couldn't even contact 911.
It is still unclear what caused the service interruption. in a short statement to CNBC, AT&T said it is “working urgently to restore service.” The company encouraged customers to use Wi-Fi calling until the issue is resolved.
Thousands of Verizon and T-Mobile customers also reported outages, but both companies said those affected had been trying to contact AT&T numbers. The market has declared this a serious problem, as AT&T shares were down nearly three percent at the time of this story's original publication.
Cell service outages are a regular part of life, but the fact that many affected customers are unable to contact 911 and other emergency services is particularly concerning. The San Francisco Fire Department has urged city residents to try calling 911 from a landline or “contact a friend or family member” who has signed up for a different provider.
We are aware of an issue affecting AT&T wireless customers when making and receiving phone calls (including to 911).
We are actively engaging and monitoring this.
The San Francisco 911 center is still operational.
If you are an AT&T customer and cannot contact 911,… pic.twitter.com/TUIEBkqmkI
– SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) February 22, 2024
Atlanta Mayor Andrew Dickens. noted that city employees could make and receive 911 calls, but many AT&T customers couldn't. Dickens has suggested that city residents contact AT&T for service inquiries, and not Atlanta's emergency services system. The Massachusetts State Police echoed this sentiment, noting that customers had been flooding their 911 center with inquiries about cell service. “Please do not do this,” the police agency wrote in X.
This is an ongoing issue and we will update this story when service is restored or when AT&T releases an update on the cause.
Update, February 22, 2024, 3:55 pm ET: This story has been updated to reflect that AT&T has since restored its cell phone service nationwide.
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