The widespread AT&T outage affected more than 70,000 customers as of 8:00 a.m. ET. Most of these issues are concentrated in Houston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and Atlanta. This affected cell service and data connections, with many customers reporting that they were unable to contact 911.
It is still unclear what caused the service outage, as it is ongoing. Published by AT&T It says it is “working urgently to restore service”. The company is encouraging 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 were trying to contact AT&T numbers. The market has declared this a serious problem, as AT&T shares have fallen nearly three percent since the opening of trading this morning.
Cell phone outages are a regular part of life, but it’s especially troubling that many affected customers are unable to contact 911 and other emergency services. The San Francisco Fire Department urged residents to call 911 from a landline or “contact a friend or family member” who signed up for another carrier.
We are aware of an issue affecting AT&T wireless customers making and receiving any phone calls (including 911).
We are actively dealing with it and monitoring it.
The San Francisco 911 center is still operating.
If you’re an AT&T customer and can’t reach 911,… pic.twitter.com/TUIEBkgmkI
— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) February 22, 2024
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens 911 could make and receive calls, but many AT&T customers could not. Dickens suggested that city residents contact AT&T rather than Atlanta’s emergency service system for service requests. Massachusetts State Police echoed that sentiment, noting that customers have been flooding 911 centers with cellphone-related inquiries. “Please don’t do it”
This is an ongoing issue, and we’ll update this story when service is restored or AT&T issues an update regarding the cause.
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