Verizon customers experienced a mobile service outage across the nation on Wednesday.
More than 180,000 unconfirmed reports were made to Downdetector, peaking in the early afternoon. The hotspot map showed most of the reports coming from New York City, Chicago and Portland, Oregon.
The network status section of the Verizon website appeared to have crashed, as well.
The outage affected voice, text, and data service, but users reported retaining WiFi connections to use apps. Hundreds of Verizon Fios reports were made as well, according to DownDetector.
Many users reported seeing “SOS” in the area of their cellphone screen typically reserved for service bars and 5G icons. Disconnecting and reconnecting via “airplane mode” or restarting devices did not appear to solve the problem.
911 calls should still go through via other networks or satellites.
Customers with an iPhone 14 or newer device can try the Messages via Satellite feature until the outage ends.
“We are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers,” the company wrote on social media. “Our 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.”
“Verizon engineering teams are continuing to address today’s service interruptions,” the company said in an update later Wednesday afternoon. “Our teams remain fully deployed and are focused on the issue. We understand the impact this has on your day and remain committed to resolving this as quickly as possible.”
An estimated time for service to be fully restored was not provided.
T-Mobile, AT&T and US Cellular customers also reported outages, but in much smaller numbers.
“NYC Emergency Management is aware of the situation involving cellphone network outages,” the agency said in a statement. “We are working closely with our partners at OTI & various utility providers to assess any potential effects on city agencies & essential services.
“We are also gathering information and updates from the affected network providers. The cause and scope of the outage are still being investigated. We will provide updates if the situation changes in a way that impacts the City of New York.”
