Verizon Customers Experience Widespread Outages, Phones Restricted to SOS Mode
Verizon customers across the United States faced major disruptions in their wireless services on Monday, with many reporting that their phones were stuck in SOS mode.
The outages spanned from New York to Los Angeles, leaving users without service on their mobile phones. Reports began pouring in with frustrated customers taking to social media to demand refunds and answers.
The outage-tracking site DownDetector had logged more than 100,000 reports of Verizon outages. Customers voiced their dissatisfaction online, with one individual posting on Verizon’s support account on X (formerly Twitter), “It’s been over two hours, and we still don’t know why this is happening. We pay a lot for Verizon service, and we deserve compensation until it’s fully fixed.”
Widespread Impact Across Major Cities
A map from DownDetector showed clusters of outage reports in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and Seattle, among others.
In Ohio, one user described how their phone had lost service after working briefly during the morning commute. “SOS in Ohio since mid-morning. It was working on my drive into work, but went down several hours ago and hasn’t come back.”
Verizon’s Response
Initially, Verizon sent an email to CBS MoneyWatch stating that their engineers were working to swiftly address the issue. A follow-up statement noted that service was being gradually restored. “Our engineers are making progress on the network issue, and service has started to return,” a Verizon spokesperson said. “We apologize for any inconvenience our customers experienced today, and we’re continuing to work around the clock to fully resolve the problem.”
What is SOS Mode?
When a phone is stuck in SOS mode, it means that although it can’t connect to its regular network, it can still make emergency calls, like to 911, by tapping into other available carriers. This feature ensures users have access to critical services during outages, according to Apple.
