Verizon experienced a nationwide outage this morning, leaving many customers unable to make calls or text messages.
The outage began around 9:30 a.m. ET, growing from 3,800 reports to more than 64,000 customers reporting that their cell service had been interrupted by 10:45 a.m. ET.
Reports showed the phones were locked in SOS mode, while others said they had data bars but still couldn’t receive incoming or outgoing calls or texts.
Verizon has not informed customers why their service was down and has not yet commented on the outage.
Verizon is down across the United States, with many users complaining that they can’t make calls or send text messages.
Verizon has more than 143 million users in the US, but the number affected by the outage is unknown.
People took to Downdetector, a site that monitors online problems, to report the outage Monday morning in areas as widespread as Chicago, Atlanta, New York and Phoenix.
The outage seems to affect people intermittently, with one person commenting that he is an Android user and called his mother’s iPhone, which did have service, but his brother, who also has an iPhone, is not working.
“So it seems like it was a matter of luck that we are out and everyone else is totally fine,” the person wrote.
Another person reported that they were able to get a few minutes on 5G if they turned airplane mode on and off, but then their phone went back to SOS.
SOS is automatically activated on all phones when there is no cell service, but it is a distress signal that can still be transmitted to request immediate assistance in a life-threatening emergency.
An individual from Madison, Wisconsin, reported on Downdetector: ‘In SOS mode. I restarted my phone (iPhone 14pro), turned off the phone and turned it on again and then it shows bars but immediately goes back to SOS.
In Indiana, a Verizon user reported that their phone is not working for only some calls and texts, but not all, and suggested people update the software if they can and use WiFi calling.
However, another person commented that that doesn’t seem to be an option, writing: ‘In southern Illinois, we also don’t see any signals from the towers (SOS on the signal indicator).
“However, what makes me think it’s even bigger is that even if you connect over WiFi with the cellular connection turned off, calling and texting over WiFi is not available.”
DailyMail.com has contacted Verizon for comment.
