AT&T outage impacting phone service for US customers

     AT&T says 75% of its network is restored

 

AT&T late Thursday morning said most of its network was backonline.

“Our network teams took immediate action and so far three-quarters of our network has been restored,” the company said. “We are working as quickly as possible to restore service to remaining customers.”

How to set up Wi-Fi calling on AT&T phones

As the widespread outage persists, AT&T is encouraging users to use Wi-Fi calling until full service is restored. Wi-Fi calling lets users call and text using a wireless internet connection.

To set up Wi-Fi calling, users can go to their Settings app on their phone. iPhone users should tap “Cellular” and Android users should click “Connection” and then users will be prompted to turn on the Wi-Fi calling feature.

AT&T says on its website that there is no extra cost for this feature. Once set up, Wi-Fi calling works automatically when you’re connected to a Wi-Fi that you choose.click and set wifi

Atlanta mayor sayscity actively gathering information to help resolve cell outage issue

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the city is “actively gathering information to determine how the City of Atlanta can assist in resolving this issue,” as local officials scramble to respond to the ongoing outage Thursday.

“Atlanta’s e-911 is able to receive inbound and make outbound calls,” Dickens said in a statement on X. “We have received calls from AT&T customers that their cellular phones are in SOS mode. Please direct all inquiries to restore service to AT&T.”

AT&T recently applied for a waiver to allow it to stop servicing traditional landlines in California

The AT&T corporate headquarters in Dallas is pictured on March 13, 2020. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images/File

Just a few weeks ago, AT&T applied for a waiver that would allow it to stop servicing traditional landlines in California.

An AT&T spokesperson cited a "precipitous decline" in demand for landlines and told CNN it wanted to be fully operational on newer infrastructure within the next few years.

That’s part of a sweeping move by phone service providers to replace older copper wire-based telephone systems lines, also known as Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), with faster and more advanced technology that doesn’t work with landlines.

Consumers will have to decide whether to give up their landlines or potentially face higher costs because of complex, expensive workarounds from the phone companies. Currently, the cost for fixed wireless access typically runs about $69 per month, while ethernet costs about $100.

The alternatives might not be as reliable as old-fashioned landlines either, and the process of switching the old equipment for the new could be a massive undertaking.

The shift away from copper landlines will most likely impact people over age 65, small business owners and rural areas, experts say.

Read more about the move away from landlines and its impact here.

 

Massachusetts police:Do not call 911 to test your cell service

 

The Massachusetts State Police warned people not to test their phone service by placing 911 calls.

“Many 911 centers in the state are getting flooded w/ calls from people trying to see if 911 works from their cell phone. Please do not do this,” the state police said in a post on X. “If you can successfully place a non-emergency call to another number via your cell service then your 911 service will also work.”

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What is Downdetector?

 

More than 74,000 AT&T customers reported outages on the digital service tracking site Downdetector.

The site records self-reported outages and is not meant to be a comprehensive number. But with people often wondering why they can't access a service or a network, it's a quick and dirty tool for customers to determine whether a service is down or if it's just them.

The Downdetector service is powered by Ookla, a network insights brand that performs speed and performance metrics for customers.

Downdetector offers “real-time status information for over 12,000 services across 47 websites representing 47 countries,” the company's website says.

AT&T says its first responder network remains operational

 

An AT&T spokesperson said the company's FirstNet network has remained operational throughout the nationwide outage of the carrier's commercial network.

FirstNet provides coverage for first responders and is advertised as a more robust network than the AT&T commercial network. It uses a mix of its own infrastructure plus AT&T's broader network.

The customers include police and fire departments, as well as first responders during natural disasters.

Why AT&T went down

AT&T has encountered sporadic outages over the past few days, including a temporary 911 outage in some parts of the southeastern United States. Although outages happen from time to time, nationwide, prolonged outages are exceedingly rare.

Although AT&T provided no official reason for the outage, the issue appears to be related to how cellular services hand off calls from one network to the next, a process known as peering, according to an industry source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

There’s no indication that Thursday’s outage was the result of a cyberattack or other malicious activity, the industry source said.

Verizon believes the nationwide outage involving AT&T customers “is close to being resolved,” according to Richard Young, a Verizon spokesperson.

Carriers are notoriously mum about why their networks go down. In the past, there have been construction accidents that have cut fiberoptic cables, incidents of sabotage or network updates filled with bugs that became difficult to roll back.

More than 73,000 AT&T customers reported outages

 

A "No Service" message is seen on an iPhone in Atlanta during an AT&T outage on February 22. Brook Joyner/CNN

More than 73,000 AT&T customers reported outages on digital-service tracking site DownDetector. That’s not a comprehensive number: It tracks only self-reported outages. Although outage reports fell a bit in the 5 a.m. ET hour, they bounced back in the 7 a.m. ET hour and continue to surge.

AT&T acknowledged that it has a widespread outage but did not provide a reason for the system failure.

“Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. We are working urgently to restore service to them,” AT&T said in a statement. “We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”

The company said some parts of its network are beginning to recover but it did not have a timeframe for when its system would be fully restored. AT&T has been responding to customer complaints online, asking them to send direct messages to customer service.

What to do if you have no service: If you are an AT&T customer without access to phone, text or the internet, you can turn on Wi-Fi calling. If you have access to Wi-Fi, you should be able to call and send texts.

 

Verizon believes outage involving AT&T customers "close to being resolved"

 

Verizon believes the nationwide outage involving AT&T customers "is close to being resolved," according to Richard Young, a Verizon spokesperson

Earlier on Thursday, Verizon said its network was operating normally, according to a statement.

“Some customers experienced issues this morning when calling or texting with customers served by another carrier. We are continuing to monitor the situation,” Verizon said.

Other providers are reporting some outage — but it's not as widespread as AT&T

 

Although Verizon and T-Mobile customers reported some network outages, too, they appeared far less widespread.

T-Mobile and Verizon said their networks were unaffected by AT&T’s service outage and customers reporting outages may have been unable to reach customers who use AT&T.