[ad_1]
If you had trouble making calls or texting on Thursday, you’re not alone.
AT&T’s network was affected by a nationwide cell phone outage Thursday morning that affected thousands of wireless customers across the United States, according to outage tracking site DownDetector.
“Some customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning,” AT&T said in a statement to NBC News. “We are working urgently to restore service.”
It’s unclear how many customers were affected or what led to the service interruption, but the company is asking users to connect to Wi-Fi to access communications at this time.
If you have an iPhone, you may have noticed “SOS” appearing in your status bar.
This is a service option that Apple offers on iPhone 14 and newer models in the event of a power outage like the one that occurred on Thursday, or when cellular service is unavailable.
According to Apple, if you see “SOS” in your iPhone’s status bar, it means your cellular network is available for emergency calls.
When you make an SOS call, iPhone automatically calls your local emergency number and shares your location with emergency services.
When the emergency call ends, your iPhone alerts your emergency contact with a text message and sends your location.
You can also enter SOS mode to update your emergency contacts when your location changes.
AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon customers began reporting issues with the service around 3 a.m. ET Thursday. According to Downdetector, Cricket, Consumer Cellular, Boost Mobile, and other local services also appear to be experiencing network issues.
However, a Verizon spokesperson told NBC News that the company has not seen any issues with its network and believes the issue is with other carriers. Verizon customers will only experience the issue if they try to call a number associated with one of the affected carriers.
T-Mobile also said its network was operating “normally” and that the outages reported on Downdetector “reflected issues customers were having trying to connect to users on other networks.” He explained that it was highly possible.
“We are now aware that a number of residents may have been affected by a widespread cell phone outage,” Miami-Dade police said in a statement. “The 911 system is working and there are no issues. Most cell phones can make 911 calls independent of service interruptions. However, you must call 911 and cannot make the call through your cell phone service. If so, we recommend that you: Connect to a Wi-Fi network, enable Wi-Fi calling on your device, and update your emergency address. ”
The Broward Sheriff’s Office also released a statement saying there has been no significant operational impact and that they are monitoring the outage.
If an AT&T customer has difficulty contacting 911 or BSO’s non-emergency number, authorities are asking callers to connect to Wi-Fi, use a landline, or use another carrier’s cell phone. We encourage you to use the .
[ad_2]
Source link
