Topline
Verizon said it restored cellular service on Wednesday night after a nearly 10-hour outage impacted hundreds of thousands of users, leaving them unable to access wireless internet and phone services for most of the day.
The Verizon outage lasted nearly 10 hours and impacted hundreds of thousands of customers.
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Key Facts
User outage reports for Verizon peaked at nearly 173,000 on downdetector as of 12:50 p.m. EST, with reports decreasing to around 120,000 about a half hour later.
The company announced the outage had been resolved shortly after 10 p.m. EST adding: “ If customers are still having an issue, we encourage them to restart their devices to reconnect to the network.”
The statement added that all affected customers will receive account credits, the details of which will be shared with them directly.
The cause of disruption and the total number of impacted users is unknown but Verizon told Reuters that there was “no indication of a cyberattack,” a possibility that was investigated by law enforcement agencies.
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Crucial Quote
In a statement issued on social media, Verizon said: “Today, we let many of our customers down and for that, we are truly sorry. They expect more from us. We are working non-stop and making progress…We will make this right – for any customer affected, we will provide account credits and share updates soon.”
How Did The Outage Impact Emergency Services?
The Verizon outage triggered emergency notifications in both New York City and Washington D.C. AlertDC, said it was aware that the outage was preventing some users from connecting to 911 services, and added: “If you have an emergency and can not connect using your Verizon Wireless device, please connect using a device from another carrier, a landline, or go to a police district or fire station to report the emergency.” New York City’s Office of Emergency Management said it was “coordinating with city and public safety partners to monitor impacts. Emergency services remain operational.” LinkNYC kiosks across the city also displayed messages about the Verizon outage impacting some users from reaching 911.
Are T-Mobile, At&t And Other Networks Down?
Users on downdetector also reported problems with AT&T and T-Mobile around the same time the Verizon issues came up, though the spike in outage reports from the two cell carriers was far lower, peaking around 1,800.
Tangent
Verizon’s stock traded up nearly 2% to $39.69 as of 2:30 p.m. EST, recovering from a Tuesday slump. Shares of the cell carrier are down 2.5% since the start of the year after a mixed performance in 2025, when the stock jumped around 2%.
Key Background
Verizon services last experienced multi-state disruptions in August 2025, when users reported their phones showing SOS, which indicates a disconnection from a carrier’s cellular network. More than 10,000 outages were reported on downdetector during the lapse in service.
Further Reading
Verizon To Axe 15,000 Jobs In New Wave Of Layoffs—What To Do Now (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/01/15/verizon-issues-apology-and-says-its-services-are-back-online-after-10-hour-outage/
