CNN –
AT&T's network went down for many of its customers in the United States on Thursday morning, leaving customers unable to make calls, text messages or access the Internet. Late this morning, the company said most of its network had been restored.
Although Verizon and T-Mobile customers also reported some network outages, they appeared to be far less widespread. T-Mobile and Verizon said their networks were not affected by AT&T's service outage and that customers who reported outages may not have been able to reach customers using AT&T.
What can you do if you don't have service?
If you're an AT&T customer and don't have access to phone, text, or internet, you can turn on Wi-Fi calling. If you have access to WiFi, you should be able to call and text.
More than 74,000 AT&T customers reported outages on digital service tracking site DownDetector, with service disruptions beginning around 4 a.m. ET. This is not a comprehensive number: only self-reported outages are recorded. Reports had increased steadily throughout the morning, but tapered off in the 9 a.m. ET hour. As of 11 a.m. ET, DownDetector data showed that about 60,000 AT&T customers were still reporting outages.
AT&T acknowledged that there was a widespread outage, but did not provide a reason for the system failure.
“Some of our customers are experiencing disruptions to cell service this morning. We are working urgently to restore service to them,” AT&T said in a statement. “We recommend using Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”
To set up Wi-Fi calling, users can go to the Settings app on their phone. iPhone users should tap “Cellular” and Android users should click “Connection.” Users will then be asked to enable the Wi-Fi calling feature. AT&T states on its website that there is no additional charge for this feature. Once set up, Wi-Fi calling works automatically when you're connected to a Wi-Fi network of your choice.
Late this morning, AT&T said most of its network was back online.
“Our network teams took immediate action and to date three-quarters of our network has been restored,” the company said. “We are working as quickly as possible to restore service to remaining customers.”
The company did not have a time frame for fully restoring its system. AT&T responded to customer complaints online and asked them to send direct messages to customer service.
Why AT&T went under
AT&T has experienced sporadic outages in recent days, including a temporary outage of 911 in some parts of the southeastern United States. Although outages do occur from time to time, extended outages are extremely rare nationwide.
Although AT&T did not give an official reason for the outage, the problem appears to be related to the way wireless services route calls from one network to the next, a process called peering, an industry source said on condition who spoke on condition of anonymity.
There is no indication that Thursday's outage was the result of a cyberattack or other malicious activity, the industry source said.
Verizon believes the nationwide outage affecting AT&T customers is “close to being resolved,” according to Richard Young, a Verizon spokesman.
Network operators are notoriously secretive when it comes to the failure of their networks. In the past, there have been construction accidents that cut fiber optic cables, incidents of sabotage, or network upgrades full of errors that were difficult to undo.
Several local governments said AT&T's outage disrupted their services.
The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management said in a statement Statement about X It was announced Thursday morning that the 911 center remained operational, but many AT&T customers were unable to reach the emergency number due to the outage. It was suggested that people call from a landline or find someone with a competitor's service to dial 911.
“We are aware of an issue that is preventing AT&T wireless customers from making and receiving calls (including to 911),” their post said. “We are actively engaged and monitoring this.”
The fire department in Upper Arlington, Ohio, said the AT&T outage impacted its fire alarms. St. Joseph County, Michigan, recommended that residents dial 911 via Wi-Fi if they cannot reach 911 via AT&T's network. Cobb County, Georgia, said 911 was not affected by the outage, but customers may seek alternative methods of reaching emergency services. Cabel County, West Virginia, said customers who cannot reach 911 can text 911 as a last resort.
New York Police Department officials told CNN that as of Thursday morning they were unable to make calls or use email on AT&T phones unless they were connected to Wi-Fi.
Massachusetts State Police warned people not to test their phone service by making emergency calls.
“Many emergency centers across the state are inundated with calls from people trying to find out if 911 is working from their cell phones. Please do not do this,” said a statement from state police Post on X. “If you can successfully place a non-emergency call to another number using your cell service, your 911 service will also work.”
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, meanwhile, said the city is “actively gathering information to determine how the city of Atlanta can help address this issue.” Statement published on X. Dickens said Atlanta's “e-911 is capable of making inbound and outbound calls” and encouraged AT&T customers to make direct requests to restore service to the company.
An AT&T spokesman said the company's FirstNet network remains operational. FirstNet provides coverage for first responders and is promoted as a more robust network than AT&T's commercial network. It uses a mix of its own infrastructure and AT&T's broader network. Customers include police and fire departments as well as first responders during natural disasters.
Verizon and T-Mobile say they are not affected
About 1,000 outages were also reported by Verizon and T-Mobile customers Thursday morning, according to the DownDetector website.
“We did not experience any outages,” T-Mobile said in a statement. “Our network is functioning normally.”
Verizon made a similar statement, saying it was not affected by AT&T's outage.
“Verizon's network is operating normally,” Verizon said in a statement to CNN. “Some customers experienced issues this morning while calling or texting customers from another wireless carrier. We continue to monitor the situation.”
User reports on Downdetector of a T-Mobile outage, the company added, “likely reflect the challenges our customers faced when trying to connect to users on other networks.”
Downdetector provides “real-time status information for over 12,000 services on 47 websites from 47 countries,” the website says.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN's Caroll Alvarado and John Miller contributed to this report.