AT&T outages mapped with other carriers also caught up in widespread crash

22 February 2024 , 15:49

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The Downdetector map shows a number of blackspots, but many other cities have been affected too (Image: Downdetector)

In the ongoing chaos caused by a major glitch in network services across America a website has published a map of the worst-affected areas.

Mobile networks AT&T, Cricket Wireless, Verizon, T-Mobile and other carriers have no available phone coverage across the country, with many people questioning why this has happened and the networks have not yet come up with an answer. But popular website Downdetector has now mapped out where all the users are affected.

The map shows that most major cities are experiencing severe outages, with Dallas, Houston and Atlanta showing up as major centres for the disruption, but cities on both seaboards are also reporting problems, with San Antonio, Miami, New York City and Chicago also registering on the 'most-reported' list.

READ MORE: Emergency 911 services across the US crash with AT&T and other mobile networks down

The outages have affected millions across America with companies frantically trying to restore services (Getty Images)

According to the site, AT&T had more than 73,000 outages on Thursday, with the problem beginning around 3.30am ET. The carrier, which is the largest in the country, has more than 240 million subscribers. The company issued a statement, saying: "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."

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Smaller carriers, such as Cricket Wireless had more than 13,000 people affected, according to the tracking website while more than 4,000 Verizon customers were hit by the glitch. T-Mobile had more than 1,900 outages and Boost Mobile had about 700 outages, according to the website.

A spokesperson for Verizon said: "Verizon’s network is operating normally. Some customers experienced issues this morning when calling or texting with customers served by another carrier. We are continuing to monitor the situation," while T-Mobile said that it did not experience an outage, and said any issues were likely to have come through from other networks. A spokesperson said: "Our network is operating normally. Downdetector is likely reflecting challenges our customers were having attempting to connect to users on other networks."

The outage has affected millions of people and still shows no sign of being resolved (Getty Images)

However, Downdetector is continuing to track unresolved outages across many networks and the problem has also impacted emergency services, with several police departments warning people have been unable to call or text 911. Flagler County Sheriff's Office in Florida tweeted: "AT&T is experiencing an outage. Subscribers are unable to call or text 911."

And the continuing lack of any proper explanation for the mass service disruption has sparked numerous theories online about what has happened. On X (formerly Twitter) users have grown suspicious of the mass outage impacting so many major providers at once. One person suggested it was something other than a tech problem, writing: "Seems to have affected @ATT first, then later reports from other phones on @TMobile @Verizon and more. I can't imagine this is incompetence or a single node failure. Concerned it could be a #cyberattack."

Paul Donald