The BareStory
Verizon has restored mobile service following a widespread outage on Wednesday that disrupted connectivity for thousands of customers across the United States. On Thursday, the telecommunications company announced it would provide a $20 account credit to subscribers impacted by the service interruption, which officials said prevented some emergency calls from connecting.
Data from outage tracking websites indicated that reports of service issues peaked at approximately 180,000 users around noon Eastern time. Customers in cities including New York, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Houston reported that their devices displayed "SOS" messages and were unable to make calls or access wireless networks. New York Emergency Management officials confirmed the disruption impacted some 911 calls and advised residents to use landlines or devices from other carriers during the incident.
While Verizon acknowledged failing to meet service standards, the company has not released a detailed explanation for the disruption. However, multiple law enforcement sources stated they believe the outage was caused by a technical issue involving a server failure in New Jersey, rather than a cyberattack or malicious act. The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency referred questions regarding the incident to the wireless carrier.
Verizon advised customers who are still experiencing connectivity issues to restart their devices. To redeem the $20 compensation, which the company stated covers the average cost of multiple days of service, eligible subscribers must log into the myVerizon app. The company noted that business customers will be contacted directly regarding their credits.
How it may affect me
As a U.S. reader:
Eligible Verizon subscribers must actively log into the myVerizon app to redeem a $20 service credit, as the compensation for the outage is not automatically applied.
Users continuing to experience service disruptions or "SOS" messages should restart their devices to attempt to restore connectivity to wireless networks.
During similar service interruptions, individuals may need to rely on landlines or devices from different carriers for emergency communication, as 911 connectivity can be compromised.
Business customers will receive direct communication regarding compensation credits, distinguishing their process from the manual redemption required for individual consumer accounts.
The public need not currently fear a malicious cyberattack as the primary cause, with law enforcement sources pointing to a technical server failure in New Jersey.
