Mobile phone users in New York State and New York City faced significant disruptions Thursday morning due to a widespread outage on AT&T’s network. The outage hindered users’ ability to place calls, send texts, and access the internet, affecting countless customers across the region. While Verizon and T-Mobile also reported minor outages, their issues were not as extensive, and these networks confirmed that their services were operational, suggesting that difficulties were primarily due to attempts to connect with AT&T lines.
For AT&T customers in New York without service, the company recommends enabling Wi-Fi calling when connected to Wi-Fi networks, allowing for call and text capabilities despite the outage. Reports on DownDetector, a site tracking digital service outages, indicated over 74,000 AT&T customers reported disruptions, though this number only reflects self-reported cases. The surge in reports reached its peak around 9 am ET but showed signs of leveling off thereafter.
AT&T acknowledged the widespread service interruption and is actively working to restore full connectivity. However, the company has yet to disclose the cause of the outage or provide a timeline for when services will be completely restored. In the meantime, AT&T is urging customers to use Wi-Fi calling and is addressing individual concerns through direct messages on social media platforms.
The exact cause of the outage remains unconfirmed, but speculation suggests it may involve complications with the peering process, essential for call handoffs between networks. Despite the significant inconvenience, there is currently no indication that the outage resulted from a cyberattack or other malicious actions. This incident follows a series of sporadic outages, including a notable disruption to 911 services in parts of the southeastern United States. Nationwide outages of this scale are extremely rare, highlighting the severity of the current disruption for AT&T customers in New York.