Overview
- The disruption began around noon ET on Jan. 14, with Downdetector peaking near 175,000–180,000 user reports before tapering later in the day.
- Customers across major metros saw phones switch to “SOS” status as voice and data failed, with heavy impact reported in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.
- Emergency officials in Washington, D.C., and New York warned of potential 911 calling issues and urged residents to use landlines, other carriers, or visit police or fire stations if necessary.
- Verizon said engineers were fully deployed and announced resolution at about 10:20 p.m. ET, noting some users might need to restart devices as intermittent issues persisted into the evening.
- The company has not provided a technical explanation; separate reports indicated authorities ruled out a cyberattack and pointed to an internal network or server issue, while rival carriers said their own networks were operating normally.