In Atlanta, Georgia, AT&T’s network experienced widespread outages on Thursday morning, affecting cellular service and internet connectivity, according to Downdetector. More than 32,000 outages were reported by customers around 4 a.m. ET, with numbers surging to over 50,000 by 7 a.m. ET. The majority of issues were reported in Houston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.
The disruptions also impacted some Verizon and T-Mobile customers, with reports of over 1,100 T-Mobile outages and about 3,000 Verizon outages as of 7 a.m. Thursday. Both companies, however, stated that the outages were affecting customers trying to contact AT&T users.
AT&T acknowledged the issue on Thursday, stating, “Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. We are working urgently to restore service to them and encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”
Other local emergency departments, such as the San Francisco Fire Department, Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management & Communications, Virginia’s Prince William County Police Department, and North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, issued warnings alerting the public about the outage and advised affected customers to utilize landlines or contact family members or friends who use a different carrier to call 911 on their behalf.
The outages raise concerns as they may affect the ability of individuals to reach emergency services. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens stated that the city is actively gathering information to assist in resolving the issue. The scope and cause of the service disruption remain unclear, and this is a developing story.