Verizon Offers $20 Credit After 10-Hour Wireless Outage Disrupts Service Across U.S.
GeokHub
Washington | Jan 15 — GeokHub Verizon Communications said on Thursday it will issue a $20 account credit to hundreds of thousands of customers affected by a major wireless outage that disrupted service for roughly 10 hours across large parts of the United States.
The company said the outage, which began on Wednesday, was caused by a software-related issue and was not the result of a cyberattack. Service was fully restored by about 10 p.m. Eastern Time, according to Verizon.
Regions Affected and Federal Review
Verizon said customers in the U.S. Northeast, Southern California, Texas, and parts of the Midwest were most heavily impacted. During the disruption, many users were unable to place calls or send text messages, with some phones displaying “SOS” mode, limiting access to the network.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it is reviewing the incident. FCC Chair Brendan Carr said the agency would examine the outage and take appropriate action following its assessment.
Emergency Alerts Issued During Outage
As the outage unfolded, several major cities issued public safety advisories. New York City warned residents that some users might not be able to reach 911 emergency services, urging them to use landlines, devices on other networks, or visit police and fire stations if necessary. The District of Columbia issued similar guidance.
Those warnings were lifted once Verizon confirmed normal operations had resumed.
Verizon Acknowledges Disruption
“We did not meet the standard of excellence our customers expect and that we expect of ourselves,” Verizon said in a statement. “To help provide some relief to those affected, we are giving customers a $20 account credit.”
The company advised customers still experiencing connectivity issues to restart their devices to reconnect to the network.
Millions Reported Issues
Downdetector, a platform that tracks service outages based on user reports, said it received 2.2 million reports related to Verizon’s disruption over a 24-hour period, highlighting the scale of the incident.
A Familiar Challenge
The outage follows a nationwide Verizon service disruption in late 2024, which affected more than 100,000 users at its peak and also drew FCC scrutiny. During that incident, many customers similarly reported being stuck in “SOS” mode on their devices.
