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There’s a big Verizon outage right now. Here’s what you need to know

Verizon logo on a smartphone screen in a dark room and a finger touching it.
Stone Staffordshire / Shutterstock

If you are a Verizon Wireless customer, you may be experiencing service issues. The top carrier in the nation has not commented on the issue or provided an estimated resolution time.

When did the Verizon outage start?

DownDetector states the problem has been ongoing in certain areas since at least 10 a.m. ET.

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Where is the Verizon outage happening?

As first reported by 9to5Mac, the Verizon outage is affecting everything related to cellular connectivity, including data, phone calls, and text messages. Affected users live across the U.S., including those in Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Michigan, and West Virginia.

Folks on social media have also noted outages in other areas of the country.

The report also indicates that iPhone users, such as those with the iPhone 16, who are experiencing the issue are encountering the “SOS only” message in the status bar on their devices.

According to Apple, if your device shows “SOS” or “SOS only,” you can still make emergency calls. However, if you see “No Service” or “Searching” in the status bar on your iPhone or iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular), it means your device is not connected to a cellular network. SOS service is only available in Australia, Canada, and the United States.

For iPhone owners with iOS 18, troubleshooting tools are available through the Apple Support app.

As of June, Verizon Wireless has over 114 million wireless retail connections, 94 million wireless retail postpaid connections, and 20.3 million wireless retail prepaid connections. In the second quarter of this year, it saw revenue of $24.9 billion.

When will the Verizon outage be fixed?

Verizon will undoubtedly resolve this issue soon. In the meantime, keep checking social networks for updates.

Bryan M. Wolfe
Bryan M. Wolfe has over a decade of experience as a technology writer. He writes about mobile.
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