Widespread cell phone outages are affecting customers of AT&T, Cricket Wireless, Verizon, T-Mobile and other service providers, according to data from Downdetector.
This meant that many Americans woke up this morning unable to make a phone call, send a text message, or access the Internet.
Dallas-based AT&T reported more than 60,000 outages this morning in areas including Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta and Chicago. The company's FirstNet network used by emergency services was also affected.
Spanish: AT&T's red Kaida. Impact with Verizon, T-Mobile, and Cricket
AT&T acknowledged widespread outages, but did not say why the system was failing.
“Some customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. We are working urgently to restore service,” AT&T said in a statement. dallas morning news. “We recommend using Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”
According to CNN, AT&T has experienced sporadic outages over the past few days, including a temporary outage in 911 calls in parts of the southeastern United States. Power outages do occur from time to time, but nationwide, long-term power outages are extremely rare.
Several local governments across the country said AT&T's outage has disrupted service.
This was announced by the San Francisco Office of Emergency Management. Statement regarding X As of Thursday morning, the company's 911 center remained operational, but many AT&T customers were unable to connect to emergency calls due to a power outage, CNN reported. He suggested calling from a landline or finding someone using a competitor's service and dialing 911.
“We are aware of an issue impacting AT&T Wireless customers' ability to make and receive calls (including 911),” the agency said in a post. “We are actively involved and monitoring this.”
Early Thursday morning, the power outage did not appear to have significantly affected many North Texas police departments.
“The Dallas Police Department is aware of the reported power outage and is monitoring the situation,” the department said in a statement. “The department is not affected by the reported outage.”
The department's 911 communications system and other systems were functioning, the statement said.
Fort Worth police said on X (formerly Twitter) that they are aware of the outage, but that the 911 call center is not affected.
“We continue to respond to urgent needs,” the post said.
Frisco Police also posted about the power outage, but said you should be able to call 911 even if your cell phone shows an SOS.
North Richland Hills Police posted on Facebook that they are aware of the power outage, but that their 911 center is fully operational.
The ministry encouraged those affected to call from a landline if possible, or to contact a friend or family member who uses another carrier and can call on their behalf.
Matt Zavadsky, a spokesman for MedStar, which provides emergency medical services to Fort Worth and surrounding areas, said the organization's FirstNet system experienced an “intermittent/outage” around 2:30 a.m. Stated.
This prevented MedStar from displaying the unit on its computer system and preventing it from using automatic navigation for calls.
During that time, MedStar instead used radio dispatch and atlases inside ambulances.
Mr Zavadsky said his biggest concern Thursday morning was whether area residents would be able to contact emergency services.
Other major businesses in North Texas and across the state reported business as usual Thursday morning.
ERCOT spokeswoman Trudi Webster said the power grid is operating under normal conditions.
DFW Airport was also unaffected.
The retailer should have anticipated the cell phone outage when setting up checkout.
Mabry Jackson, a spokeswoman for HEB, said the company's POS system does not rely on WiFi, but store employees will be able to reach customers parked in curbside pickup areas in case their cellphones malfunction. He said he was on his way.
Kroger spokesman John Votava said the cellphone outage will not affect the grocer's point-of-sale system.
Carriers other than AT&T were also affected. Downdetector.com reports that Cricket Wireless had more than 11,000 cases. At Verizon he had over 3,000 failures and at T-Mobile he had over 1,000 failures. Boost Mobile experienced over 450 failures.
As reported by WFAA.com, the outage started around 2 a.m. Dallas time and quickly became a major trend on social media, with users on X (formerly Twitter) using numerous hashtags to discuss the issue. It is said that they flocked to each other. #Cyber Attack was one of the trending hashtags related to the disorder, but there is no indication that the attack was the cause of the disorder.
According to CNN, Verizon and T-Mobile users encountered difficulties trying to connect with customers on the affected networks.
T-Mobile said in a statement that “no outages occurred.” “Our network is operating normally.”
Verizon issued a similar comment, saying it was not affected by AT&T's outage.
“Verizon's network is operating normally,” Verizon told CNN in a statement. “This morning, some customers experienced issues calling or texting customers served by another carrier. We continue to monitor the situation. ”
Reports of T-Mobile outages from users on Downdetector “may reflect challenges our customers have had trying to connect to users on other networks,” the company added. .
Wire reporting and staff writer Alexandra Skores and editor Chuck Lindell contributed to this report.
