Verizon is experiencing a massive outage across the country

A large number of Verizon customers are starting off their Monday with phone service issues due to an outage. Reports of problems spiked on the service tracker Downdetector starting at 10:00 a.m. ET. Since then, there have been more than 103,000 reports of customers having issues with Verizon on Downdetector and plenty of reports of problems on social media as well. While reports of problems have slowed down as of this afternoon, problems persist for users.

Outage reports are coming from across the country, but according to Downdetector, the top locations as of the height of the outage this morning were Chicago, Phoenix, Denver, Indianapolis, Omaha, Minneapolis, Columbus, Los Angeles, and Seattle. As of this afternoon, most of the hotspots for reported problems are on the East Coast, though there are plenty of issues in the Midwest and West Coast as well.

Verizon customers are taking to social media to report the outage, sharing their experiences on X (formerly Twitter) and Threads using the hashtag #VerizonOutage. Many are reporting the inability to make outbound calls only, while others can make calls of any type. Messaging is also impacted for some. Interestingly, not all phones are experiencing these issues, and people with multiple Verizon lines (either for themselves or for their family) are reporting that one line is fine while the other is in SOS mode.

I first noticed the problem myself when I wasn’t receiving text messages to verify an online account. I then realized my phone didn’t have service and was switching between “Emergency calls only” mode and “Searching for service.” Such messages signify the phone has been disconnected from the network, either from poor connection or problems with the carrier’s network. When I try to make a phone call, I get an error message that says, “Your phone’s not registered on a network, so you can only make emergency calls.”

Verizon has finally acknowledged the problem on its network status page as of this afternoon. For most of the morning, the site was either not displaying an issue or not loading properly. When you search in a location impacted by the outage, the site says, “We are aware of an issue impacting service for some customers. Our engineers are engaged, and we are working quickly to identify and solve the issue.”

The cause of the outage is still unknown, with Verizon offering essentially zero details. When I reached out to Verizon for a statement, they said they ” are aware of an issue impacting service for some customers. Our engineers are engaged and we are working quickly to identify and solve the issue” and promised to share updated information as it is available. Verizon has also posted this response on its X account. Unfortunately, the company has not provided any additional details since that original statement was made earlier this afternoon.

AT&T has released a statement on X that it is not experience a nationwide outage. It went on to say that any reports from Downdetector are likely a result of its customers trying to connect with Verizon customers.

The outage peaked at 104,932 reported outages at 11:13 a.m. ET. Thankfully, outage reports have been receding since roughly 12:00 p.m. ET, with numbers down to just over 70,000 at of 12:10 p.m. ET. Now, four hours after the first reports, Downdetector is reporting a total of 48,869 reported outages as of 2:11 p.m. ET. My phone is still without service in Florida at 2:30 p.m. ET, showing it’s available for “Emergency calls only.”