Thousands of Verizon customers across the United States reported losing service on Saturday, with the company confirming a software issue was to blame.
According to outage-tracking site Down detector, reports of problems began piling up in the afternoon and peaked several times throughout the day. Around 3:45 p.m. ET, more than 22,000 outages were logged. At 6:09 p.m., that number was still above 18,000, and by 7:19 p.m. about 11,100 customers were reporting problems.
In a post on its support account on X, Verizon said, “We are aware of a software issue impacting wireless service for some customers. Our engineers are engaged and we are working quickly to identify and solve the issue.” The company added, “We know how much people rely on Verizon and apologize for any inconvenience. We appreciate your patience.”
Verizon has not said when service will be fully restored, but the number of outage reports appeared to decline later in the evening.
Why Some iPhones Show ‘SOS’
Many frustrated users noted their phones had gone into “SOS mode.” On iPhones, this means regular calls and data won’t work, but emergency calls can still be made.
Apple advises that to exit SOS mode, users should switch on airplane mode for at least 15 seconds before turning it back off.
Where Outages Are Happening
The outages have been reported nationwide, though Down detector’s live map showed the East Coast hardest hit, particularly New York, Boston, and Washington, DC. Reports also came in from California, including Palm Springs.
