Photo by Rubaitul Azad on Unsplash
AT&T Network Outage Leaves Users Stranded
February 22, 2024
In the morning on Thursday, Feb. 22, AT&T customers across the United States found themselves in a communication black hole. Unable to make calls, send texts, or access the internet, frustration mounted as the outage persisted. While Verizon and T-Mobile experienced some disruptions, they were not as widespread as AT&T’s. T-Mobile and Verizon assured their customers that their networks remained unaffected, suggesting that issues may have arisen when attempting to connect with AT&T users.
For those stranded without service, AT&T recommended utilizing Wi-Fi calling as a temporary solution. Over 74,000 AT&T customers reported outages on DownDetector, a digital service tracking site. Although service disruptions began around 4 a.m. ET, reports continued to climb steadily until leveling off at 9 a.m. ET. By 11 a.m. ET, around 60,000 customers still reported outages.
AT&T acknowledged the widespread outage but provided no explanation for the system failure. “Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. We are working urgently to restore service to them,” AT&T said in a statement. “We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”
To set up Wi-Fi calling, users can navigate to the Settings app on their phone. iPhone users should tap “Cellular,” while Android users should click “Connection” to enable the feature. AT&T assured customers that there would be no additional cost for this feature, and once set up, Wi-Fi calling would function automatically when connected to a chosen Wi-Fi network.
By late morning, AT&T announced that the majority of its network had been restored. However, it did not provide a time frame for full restoration.
The outage’s cause remains unspecified, but it seems related to how cellular services manage call handoffs between networks, a process known as peering, according to industry sources. There was no indication that the outage resulted from malicious activity, although the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency offered AT&T assistance in understanding its impact.
Local governments reported disruptions in services, including 911 lines, prompting alternative communication methods for emergencies. While Verizon and T-Mobile claimed their networks remained unaffected, reports of outages persisted.
As AT&T works to resolve the issue, customers are left grappling with the inconvenience and uncertainty of modern communication technology.
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