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AT&T’s network suffered widespread outages across the country Thursday morning, with cell and Internet service down, according to the tracking site Downdetector.
Other cellphone providers, including Verizon, T-Mobile and Cricket Wireless, also reported outages. Verizon and T-Mobile said those affected had been trying to contact AT&T users.
AT&T reported that service had been restored for all customers affected by the outage as of Thursday afternoon. It is still unclear what caused the service interruption.
Follow live updates on reported AT&T outages
More than 32,000 power outages occurred at AT&T. reported by customers around 4 a.m. ET on Thursday. Reports dropped then rose again to over 50,000 around 7 a.m., with most problems reported in Houston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and Atlanta, according to the site.
That number increased to more than 71,000 just before 8 a.m. ET.
AT&T acknowledged the issue Thursday morning, saying, “Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service outages this morning.”
As of 7 a.m. Thursday, a little more than 1,100 outages were reported at T-Mobile and about 3,000 outages at Verizon.
Verizon said Thursday morning that the outages do not affect its network directly, only customers trying to contact another provider.
T-Mobile also said earlier Thursday that the network did not suffer an outage and is operating normally, and Downdetector’s numbers likely reflect customers trying to communicate with users on other networks.
Cricket Wireless, which is owned by AT&T and uses its network, is also experiencing issues with cell service. More than 13,500 customers reported outages as of 8 a.m. ET on Thursday. By 10 a.m. the number was reduced to about 10,000
“Let us explain that there is a nationwide network incident affecting multiple services.” the company wrote in X. “Cricket’s top priority is to restore service to full capacity as quickly and safely as possible.”
Service has since been restored to all affected AT&T customers.
“We have restored wireless service to all of our affected customers. We sincerely apologize. “Keeping our customers connected remains our top priority and we are taking steps to ensure our customers do not experience this again in the future,” the company said in a statement.
AT&T has not revealed what caused the nationwide service outage, although the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said there is no indication of a cyberattack.
The most likely cause of the outage “is cloud misconfiguration,” which is “a fancy word for human error,” Lee McKnight, an associate professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, said in a statement. .
The Federal Communications Commission is actively investigating the incident. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security are lending a hand.
The outages raised a concern for some customers Thursday morning who may not be able to contact 911 in the event of an emergency.
He The San Francisco Fire Department said in X that you were aware of an issue affecting AT&T wireless customers making and receiving phone calls, including 911.
“The San Francisco 911 center is still operational,” the office said. “If you are an AT&T customer and cannot reach 911, try calling from a landline. If that is not an option, try contacting a friend or family member who is a customer of a different provider and ask them to call 911 on your behalf.”
Similarly, Chicago Office of Communications and Emergency ManagementVirginia Prince William County Police Departmentand North Carolina Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department have issued warnings on X alerting the public about the outage and acknowledging that some customers were briefly unable to contact 911.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement. that the city is gathering information to help solve the problem.
“Atlanta e-911 can receive and make incoming calls. We have received calls from AT&T customers saying their cell phones are in SOS mode,” Dickens said.
Apple support confirmed that iPhone users who see SOS in their status bar can still make emergency calls over other carriers’ networks.
Agencies across the country urged people to refrain from calling 911 to try their service. The line is only for real emergencies.
This is a developing story. Please check for updates.