Customers of several US cell service providers reported outages early Thursday morning, the website said Downdetector.com, which monitors such reports. AT&T was so overwhelmed that tens of thousands of customers told Downdetector they had no service.
Customers of T Mobile, Verizon, UScellular and Consumer Cellular also reported problems.
Reports of AT&T outages appear to have started around the same time, shortly after 3 a.m. EST, the downdetector said, and some appeared to taper off after three hours, then picked up again and approached 50,000 at 7:20 a.m. EST.
Some municipalities face difficulties with 911 service.
The San Francisco Fire Deprtment said in a post on X, ex's Twitter, “We are aware of an issue with AT&T Wireless customers making and receiving any phone calls (including 911). We are actively involved and monitoring this. The Francisco 911 Center is still operating. You are an AT&T customer who can call 911. If that's not possible, try calling from a landline. If that's not possible, try to reach a customer or family member. Ask them to call 911 from another carrier and on your behalf. Do not call or text 911 to test your phone service.”
SEPTA, the transit system serving Philadelphia and its suburbs, tweeted in the former, “Due to AT&T communications outages, some trains may reflect delays, however all trains are running on or near schedule.”
No word on the source of AT&T's problems.
CBS News has reached out to all major carriers for comment.
This is a growing story. Check back for updates.
