The outage map displays the areas where AT&T cellular service experienced disruptions for users throughout the United States.

The outage map displays the areas where AT&T cellular service experienced disruptions for users throughout the United States.

Tens of thousands of AT&T customers reported problems

On Thursday morning, there was a widespread cellphone service outage across the United States, as indicated by a map of the affected areas.

Other network customers reported issues, but competing carriers Verizon, T-Mobile, and UScellular stated that their networks were functioning and suggested that their customers may be facing difficulties reaching those on AT&T’s network.

Around 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, AT&T announced that it had made advancements in fixing its network. By the middle of the afternoon, it confirmed that service had been completely restored.

“We are currently evaluating the outage that occurred today to ensure that we maintain our standard of service for our valued customers,” stated the company on their website.

Below is a summary of the regions impacted by the service interruption.

Map displaying current AT&T service disruptions

At approximately 12 PM Eastern Time, Downdetector received roughly 40,000 reports of service problems from AT&T subscribers, a decrease from the highest number of over 70,000 reports. The majority of grievances were centered on difficulties with cellular devices or wireless service.

According to Downdetector, the cities with the most outages were Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Chicago, New York, Miami, Dallas, Atlanta, and Indianapolis.

What was the reason behind the AT&T service disruption?

The software bug was the cause of the outage for the company.

The power failure caused disruptions at emergency call centers, as some authorities observed individuals dialing 911 for the purpose of checking their phone connectivity.

Authorities advised individuals not to use the emergency hotline 911 for the purpose of checking their cell phones.

The Massachusetts State Police wrote on X, the former Twitter, that numerous 911 centers in the state are experiencing a high volume of calls from individuals attempting to test the functionality of 911 on their cell phones. They urge the public to refrain from doing so.

This report was contributed by Taylor Johnston.

Aimee Picchi

Source: cbsnews.com