Verizon customers report widespread outages and phones in “SOS” mode

NEW YORK (AP) — Some Verizon customers in the U.S. were hit by a service outage Monday.

The problem appeared to have knocked out cell service for tens of thousands of Verizon users. Data from outage tracker DownDetector shows that the number surpassed 100,000 shortly after 11 a.m. ET – and while that number dropped significantly, nearly 48,000 were still experiencing problems as of 4 p.m. ET.

Frustrated online users said they were without service in many parts of the country – including the southeastern United States, where residents are still suffering from the problem Aftermath of Hurricane Helene. However, the outage was not limited to one region. DownDetector’s map also showed many reports from the West Coast, Midwest and Northeast.

In a statement, New York-based Verizon acknowledged the issue with its network and apologized “for any inconvenience caused to some of our customers today.” The company added that while service has been restored for many customers, its engineers continue to work to fully resolve this issue.

Also the Federal Communications Commission recognized The company reported the outage later in the day but did not provide further details other than to say it was investigating the cause.

Some Verizon iPhone customers began seeing SOS messages appear in the status bar of their cell phones. The message indicates that the device is having trouble connecting to the carrier’s network, but can make emergency calls through other carriers.

During the cell Service outages like thisAn alternative is to connect to a nearby Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi calling is also a built-in feature on most Android devices and iPhones and can be enabled in the phone settings.