AT&T’s Wireless Network Suffers Major Outage Across U.S.
AT&T’s wireless network experienced a significant outage, impacting users across the United States for several hours. The outage began around 3:30 a.m. ET and peaked at about 73,000 reported incidents on Downdetector.
AT&T reported over 58,000 outages in various locations, including Houston, Atlanta, and Chicago. This disruption affected more than 240 million subscribers, making AT&T the largest carrier in the country. By 5 p.m. ET, the number of reported outages had decreased to about 1,200.
Even Cricket Wireless, a subsidiary of AT&T, was not spared from the outages. However, their issues had resolved by later in the afternoon. Other carriers, such as Verizon and T-Mobile, also reported problems, attributing them to customers attempting to connect to AT&T users.
Some iPhone users even received SOS messages on their phones, indicating difficulty connecting to the network. The cause of these outages remains unknown, with possibilities including a cloud misconfiguration or human error.
Various government agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission, Department of Homeland Security, and FBI, are looking into the situation. Additionally, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is assessing the disruption to determine what went wrong and how to prevent future incidents.
As of now, AT&T has not provided further details about the cause of the outage or any steps being taken to prevent a recurrence. Customers are advised to monitor the situation and contact AT&T for any updates on the network’s status.