10-hour long Verizon outage is finally resolved
Verizon experienced a 10-hour network outage on January 14 that disrupted wireless calls and data services for customers primarily in eastern U.S. cities. The company acknowledged the issue around midday Eastern Time and resolved it by evening through engineering efforts.
Customers reported seeing “SOS” on their smartphones instead of the usual network bars, indicating a failure to connect to Verizon’s primary network. This fallback mode limited functionality to emergency calls only. Verizon’s own network status page also struggled to load, overwhelmed by the volume of users attempting to check service conditions simultaneously. Engadget staff members confirmed that voice calls and wireless data were the primary services affected, preventing outbound and inbound calls as well as internet access via cellular connections.
Text messaging services operated normally for at least some affected users, allowing delivery of SMS despite the broader disruptions. This selective functionality highlighted that the outage did not impact all aspects of the network uniformly. On DownDetector, a crowdsourced outage tracking platform, reports of Verizon service problems began increasing around 12:00 PM ET. The volume escalated rapidly, reaching a peak of 181,769 reports, which reflected the scale of customer experiences across the network.
DownDetector data also registered smaller spikes in outage reports for competing carriers AT&T and T-Mobile. AT&T reports topped out at 1,769, a fraction of Verizon’s peak. These secondary reports likely stemmed from users of other networks attempting to contact Verizon customers, mistaking failed connections for issues on their own carriers. The disparity in report magnitudes underscored that the core problem resided within Verizon’s infrastructure.
Verizon’s official news account on X posted its first acknowledgment at 12:00 PM ET. “We are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers,” the company stated. “Our engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly. We understand how important reliable connectivity is and apologize for the inconvenience.” This message confirmed the company’s awareness and initiated public communication on the response efforts.
Geographically, DownDetector’s outage map pinpointed the highest concentrations of reports in major eastern U.S. cities including Boston, New York, and Washington DC. Additional emerging hotspots appeared in Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, indicating the issue spread westward over time. The eastern focus suggested potential involvement of core network elements serving high-density urban areas.
By 2:14 PM ET, Verizon provided an update on X, stating that its engineering teams “remain fully deployed” to address the outage. No estimated resolution time or customer impact figures were disclosed in this communication. The phrasing implied sustained, intensive on-site and remote troubleshooting activities.
Outage reports on DownDetector began declining after the peak at 12:43 PM ET, yet thousands of users continued submitting complaints. This trend indicated partial progress in restoration efforts, though widespread service remained unreliable for many.
As of 3:09 PM ET, Verizon had not issued additional details on network recovery. Individual customer posts on X described intermittent service returns, where connectivity briefly functioned before dropping again. At least one Engadget staff member reported full service restoration nearly two hours after Verizon’s prior statement. Despite such instances, connectivity problems persisted broadly, with DownDetector logging over 55,000 reports as late as 3:47 PM ET.
Verizon posted another update at 4:12 PM ET, confirming ongoing work. “Our team is on the ground actively working to fix today’s service issue that is impacting some customers,” the company wrote. This message reiterated that the problem had not been fully resolved, emphasizing physical deployment of technicians alongside digital fixes.
Verizon's team is on the ground actively working to fix today’s service issue that is impacting some customers. We know this is a huge inconvenience, and our top priority is to get you back online and connected as fast as possible. We appreciate your patience while we work to…
— Verizon News (@VerizonNews) January 14, 2026
By 4:52 PM ET, the outage had persisted for approximately four hours, approaching the duration of Verizon’s previous major outage earlier in 2024. As with that incident, no specific cause for the current disruption was publicly disclosed. Verizon continued internal investigations without sharing technical details.
DownDetector’s count at 5:41 PM ET stood above 46,000 reports. The platform’s map showed reports still clustered in the same primary cities, though distribution had become more widespread nationwide as awareness grew through media and social channels.
Conditions at 6:20 PM ET mirrored earlier patterns, with tens of thousands of users, including Engadget editors, lacking reliable service. Intermittent connectivity reports persisted, featuring brief connections followed by failures, but no comprehensive fix had been implemented. Verizon had not communicated since 4:12 PM ET, leaving customers without fresh status information for over two hours.
Resolution came at 10:20 PM ET when Verizon announced on X that the outage had ended. The company advised subscribers still experiencing issues to restart their devices for reconnection. Verizon also committed to issuing account credits to impacted customers as compensation for the disruption.
T-Mobile confirmed its network operated without interference, posting on X that it was “operating normally and as expected.”
T-Mobile’s network is keeping our customers connected, and we’ve confirmed that our network is operating normally and as expected. However due to Verizon’s reported outage, our customers may not be able to reach someone with Verizon service at this time.
— T-Mobile (@TMobile) January 14, 2026
AT&T similarly distanced itself, stating for any affected customers, “it’s not us… it’s the other guys.”
Our network? Solid. If you’re experiencing issues, it’s not us…..it’s the other guys. Some things are just out of our hands! – BUT if you're interested in giving us a try – https://t.co/xftQXpUcjw
— AT&T (@ATT) January 14, 2026
These statements from rivals verified that the outage was isolated to Verizon.