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All four major US wireless carriers are suffering outages right now

Updated Jan 31st, 2020 2:54PM EST
Verizon down
Image: Richard Drew/AP/Shutterstock

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If you happen to notice problems with your cell phone and connectivity today, you’re not alone.

Reports have been streaming in of major outages at all four of the big US wireless carriers, including Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T (as well as some smaller carriers), with Down Detector showing reports especially on the East Coast. Users are also taking to social media to try and figure out what’s going, as the carriers themselves work through the problems.

The problems as far as Verizon goes appear to be most related to actual cell usage, though there have been sporadic reports that mobile internet use has been affected and a smaller number of customers complaining of “total blackouts.”


https://twitter.com/kandigurl9581/status/1223294302832484356

Has your service been affected too? Verizon, for its part, told a local TV news affiliate in Raleigh, North Carolina, that the outage seems to have been the result of making a change to its network that impacted a number of cell sites.

Here’s a look at the latest live outage map (as of earlier Friday afternoon) showing Verizon problems, via Down Detector, which indicated thousands of reports of problems for the carrier starting Friday morning:

Image source: Down Detector

Down Detector on Friday also picked up hundreds of other issues and reports of outages from Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T customers, as well as smaller network operators. Hopefully all the problems will be resolved soon, especially leading into this weekend with the big game on Sunday.

Andy Meek Trending News Editor

Andy Meek is a reporter based in Memphis who has covered media, entertainment, and culture for over 20 years. His work has appeared in outlets including The Guardian, Forbes, and The Financial Times, and he’s written for BGR since 2015. Andy's coverage includes technology and entertainment, and he has a particular interest in all things streaming.

Over the years, he’s interviewed legendary figures in entertainment and tech that range from Stan Lee to John McAfee, Peter Thiel, and Reed Hastings.