Washington, D.C. | Jan 14 — GeokHub Thousands of Verizon Communications (VZ) customers across the United States faced widespread network disruptions on Wednesday, leaving many unable to make calls or send text messages. The outage prompted emergency alerts in New York City and the District of Columbia, urging residents to use alternative carriers or landlines for 911 calls.
Verizon said its teams were actively working to resolve the technical issue. “Our teams remain fully deployed and are focused on the issue,” the company said. “We understand the impact this has on your day and remain committed to resolving this as quickly as possible.”
Outage Impact and Scope
At its peak just before 1 p.m. ET, Downdetector — which tracks outages using user-submitted reports — logged over 180,000 incidents affecting Verizon services. The number of reported issues declined to roughly 93,000 an hour later.
Other carriers were largely unaffected, though Downdetector reported 1,700+ incidents each for T-Mobile and AT&T during the same period. The actual number of impacted users may vary from these reports, as they rely on user submissions.
Emergency Services and Government Response
City officials in New York and Washington D.C. warned residents that some 911 calls could be disrupted. New York City advised residents to use devices from other carriers, landlines, or visit police and fire stations to report emergencies. D.C. issued similar guidance.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it would review the outage. FCC Chair Brendan Carr told GeokHub the agency will assess the situation and take appropriate action.
Background
Verizon has experienced prior network outages, including a nationwide wireless disruption in late 2024, which affected over 100,000 users at its peak. That incident drew FCC scrutiny after multiple services were impacted and iPhone users were left in “SOS” mode.
As millions rely on mobile networks for daily communication and emergency services, incidents like these underscore the critical importance of network reliability and rapid response from providers.
