AT&T cellular users report widespread cell outages; carrier says 911 impacts were reported in ‘error’
AT&T customers have reported widespread outages across the US, leaving them unable to contact friends and loved ones.
The network giant later confirmed that it was experiencing a “nationwide issue” but that reports that 911 services had been affected by the outages, were false.
On Tuesday users reported problems in states including Florida, Georgia, and Texas among others, according to tracking site Downdetector.
Authorities in Virginia also said that they had been contacted by the network provider to inform them that customers may have difficulty contacting emergency services.
“AT&T has contacted Hanover County advising their customers nationwide, including Hanover County, may experience issues contacting 911,” a post from the Hanover County Public Safety Emergency Communications Department read.
However spokesperson for AT&T later told The Independent that 911 services were “operating normally” and its customers were not affected. Notifications had been sent to 911 call centers “in error”, they said.
“There is a nationwide issue that is affecting the ability of customers to complete calls between carriers,” the spokesperson said. “The carriers are working as quickly as possible to diagnose and resolve the issue.”
They added: “Nationwide 911 Services are operating normally at this time and our customers are not affected. We’re working to correct a wireless impact notification that was sent in error to 9-1-1 call centers.”
Multiple users complained of connectivity issues with AT&T via its customer service account on X.
“@ATT can yall fix the phones can’t call my momma !!! And she can’t call me either!” one user wrote. “Everytime I make a phone call it’s says call failed, is there a network issue?” another wrote.