At a Glance
- A Verizon network failure left tens of thousands unable to call or text from about 11 a.m. CT until roughly 10:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
- More than 180,000 outage reports flooded DownDetector by 11:40 a.m. CT, with Chicago among the hardest-hit cities.
- The carrier apologized multiple times on X, promised automatic account credits, and urged customers to restart devices to reconnect.
- Why it matters: The all-day blackout stranded phones in emergency-only SOS mode and raised fresh questions about network reliability.
Verizon customers across several major U.S. cities lost the ability to make calls or send texts for much of Wednesday after an unspecified network fault triggered widespread service failures, according to News Of Philadelphia‘s reporting.
Outage Timeline
Trouble began around 11 a.m. CT, when DownDetector recorded a sharp spike in complaints. Within 40 minutes the tracker had logged more than 180,000 reports, many clustered in Chicago and other large metro areas. Affected devices either showed “no service” or dropped into SOS mode, a limited function that allows only emergency calls.
Verizon’s first public acknowledgment came near noon, when the company posted on X that teams were investigating an “issue.” Updates followed throughout the afternoon as engineers worked to isolate the fault. Shortly after 8 p.m. CT the carrier issued a fuller apology.
“Today, we let many of our customers down and for that, we are truly sorry,” the post read. “They expect more from us. We are working non-stop and making progress. Our teams will continue to work through the night until service is restored for all impacted customers.”
Service was finally restored at approximately 10:20 p.m. ET, according to a subsequent Verizon statement. The company urged anyone still experiencing problems to restart their device so it could re-register with the network.
Compensation Offer
Verizon pledged automatic bill credits for every customer touched by the outage. Details will be sent directly to accounts, the carrier said, without specifying dollar amounts or how credits would be calculated. The promise was repeated in multiple posts, including one issued an hour before full restoration:
“We will make this right – for any customer affected, we will provide account credits and share updates soon.”
No action is required from subscribers; Verizon said it will identify affected lines internally and apply adjustments in the coming billing cycle.
Cause Still Unknown
The carrier has not disclosed what triggered the failure. Technical staff “worked non-stop,” Verizon noted, but officials offered no timeline for a complete fix until the network was actually restored. The Federal Communications Commission, which tracks significant telecom outages, has not yet posted its own findings on the incident.
Customer Impact
- Phones showed SOS-only signal in multiple cities
- Standard voice calls failed to connect
- Text messages sat unsent in outboxes
- Data connections remained largely intact for some subscribers, James O Connor Fields noted
Small-business owners who rely on mobile point-of-sale systems reported lost sales, while parents described difficulty contacting children after school. Emergency-services officials in Chicago said 911 lines remained operational, but they fielded a higher volume of calls from residents testing their phones.
Key Takeaways
- The outage lasted roughly 11 hours from first reports to full restoration
- Verizon has promised automatic credits; customers do not need to file claims
- No explanation of the root cause has been released
- Restarting devices is the recommended step for anyone still seeing SOS mode
News Of Philadelphia will update if Verizon provides further details on the cause or the scope of the credits.
