At a Glance
- More than 180,000 Verizon customers lost service across major U.S. cities on Wednesday
- Phones were stuck in “SOS mode,” blocking calls and texts from roughly 11 a.m. CT to 10:20 p.m. ET
- Verizon promised account credits and repeatedly apologized without revealing the cause
- Why it matters: The day-long blackout left customers unable to reach 911 or conduct business, and the company still hasn’t explained what went wrong
A coast-to-coast Verizon outage that began early Wednesday silenced more than 180,000 wireless devices for about 11 hours, forcing customers into emergency-only “SOS mode” and prompting the carrier to pledge automatic bill credits while offering no details on the root failure.
The first widespread complaints surfaced around 11 a.m. CT, according to outage-tracker DownDetector, with reports peaking near 11:40 a.m. CT. Chicago and other large metro areas were among the hardest hit. By noon local time, Verizon’s social-media accounts confirmed that an unspecified “issue” was disrupting voice and text service.
Timeline of the Blackout
| Time (CT) | Event |
|---|---|
| 11 a.m. | Outage reports begin spiking on DownDetector |
| 11:40 a.m. | More than 180,000 reports logged |
| ~12 p.m. | Verizon posts first acknowledgment on X |
| 8 p.m. | Carrier says it is “truly sorry,” vows credits |
| 9:20 p.m. | Service officially restored |
Throughout the afternoon the company issued periodic updates, repeating that engineering teams were “working non-stop and making progress.” Yet Verizon offered no estimate for full restoration and declined to describe the technical problem behind the failure.
Customers flooded social media with screenshots showing signal bars replaced by an “SOS” icon, indicating that only emergency 911 calls could route through rival networks. Businesses that rely on SMS authentication found themselves locked out of bank accounts, rideshare apps and other services.
Apology and Credit Promise
Roughly an hour before service returned, Verizon posted a more contrite message: “Today, we let many of our customers down and for that, we are truly sorry.” The carrier guaranteed account credits for everyone affected and said details would be sent “directly with customers.”
The outage was deemed fully resolved at about 9:20 p.m. CT/10:20 p.m. ET, according to a final Verizon update that also advised users to restart their devices if problems lingered.
Despite repeated inquiries, Verizon has released no further information on what triggered the nationwide disruption. According to News Of Philadelphia, the company has not responded to additional questions about the cause or whether similar outages could recur.
Key Takeaways
- 180,000-plus outage reports made this one of Verizon’s largest disruptions in recent years
- The carrier’s promise of automatic credits could reach millions of dollars, but no dollar figure or timeline has been disclosed
- With no technical explanation released, customers and regulators are left guessing whether network safeguards failed or an external attack occurred
