AT&T customers in the U.S. are currently experiencing network issues due to a disruption, leading federal agencies to launch an investigation into the cause of the outage.
The company has acknowledged the situation in a statement to ABC News and recommended that customers utilize Wi-Fi for making calls.
“Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. We are working urgently to restore service to them. We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored,” an AT&T spokesperson said.
Later in the morning on Thursday, AT&T released an update indicating that 75% of its network had been successfully restored.
“Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. Our network teams took immediate action and so far three-quarters of our network has been restored. We are working as quickly as possible to restore service to remaining customers,” the company said.
According to information provided by two sources to ABC News, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are currently conducting urgent investigations to determine whether the AT&T outages are a result of a cyber attack, hack, or technical malfunction. Over 73,000 AT&T customers have reported outages on the digital-service tracking site DownDetector. This number is not exhaustive as it only includes self-reported outages. While outage reports decreased slightly at 5 am ET, they increased again at 7 am ET and are continuing to rise.
Various local governments have stated that AT&T’s outage is disrupting their services. San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management mentioned in a statement on Thursday morning that although its 911 center was operational, many AT&T customers were unable to reach the emergency line due to the outage. It recommended using a landline or finding someone with a different service provider to call 911.
As of 5:00 a.m. ET, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) reported, as per a confidential memo obtained by ABC News, that “the cause of the outage is unknown and there are no indications of malicious activity.” CISA, a DHS agency responsible for monitoring cyber threats, shared this information.
Several police departments and municipalities have alerted local residents about what they have described as a nationwide outage. Consequently, officials have advised individuals to contact emergency services through alternative methods.
“There is a nationwide AT&T outage that is preventing wireless customers from making and receiving any phone calls (including to 9-1-1),” the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department announced.
Fairfax, Virginia also released a similar warning:
“There is a nationwide AT&T outage that is preventing wireless customers from making and receiving any phone calls (including to 9-1-1),” the Fairfax County Government said on X. “Try calling from a landline or ask a friend or family member to call 9-1-1 on your behalf.”
CISA declined to provide any comment regarding the outages, in response to a previous request made by ABC News. As stated on the company’s website, AT&T caters to over 100 million customers through its mobile and broadband services.
Verizon and T-Mobile have informed ABC News that their networks are currently unaffected by any outages. However, customers might encounter challenges when trying to reach individuals who are affected by outages at other service providers.
“Verizon’s network is operating normally,” a Verizon spokesperson said.
“Some customers experienced issues this morning when calling or texting with customers served by another carrier.
“We are continuing to monitor the situation.
T-Mobile similarly told ABC News, “We did not experience an outage.
“Our network is operating normally.
“Down Detector is likely reflecting challenges our customers were having attempting to connect to users on other networks.”
