AT&T and Cricket went down for many of its customers across the United States on Thursday, the company confirmed, as numerous customers reported an outage.
With the network outage, customers—including Epoch Times reporters—were not able to make phone calls, send texts, or access the internet using the network.
Users of T-Mobile and Verizon, too, were reporting outages on Thursday, but it appears that AT&T and Cricket, which use the same network, were suffering the most, according to DownDetector. As of Thursday at 9 a.m. ET, about 74,000 users reported AT&T outages, while more than 13,000 Cricket users reported the same, the website showed.
The term “outage” and related terms were trending on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday, with many users reporting that they have no cellphone service.
A few thousand T-Mobile and Verizon customers also reported outages, the website shows.
In a statement to several news outlets on Thursday, AT&T confirmed the outage and urged users to use Wi-Fi calling in the meantime. “Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. We are working urgently to restore service to them,” it said in a statement.
T-Mobile and Verizon said that they are not suffering outages. “We did not experience an outage,” T-Mobile told news outlets. “Our network is operating normally.”
“Verizon’s network is operating normally,” Verizon told outlets Thursday. “Some customers experienced issues this morning when calling or texting with customers served by another carrier. We are continuing to monitor the situation.”
AT&T’s website included a notice that “some customers in your area are having trouble making or receiving calls. As a result, we are experiencing long hold times. We apologize for this inconvenience and we are working to resolve this issue.”
It’s not clear why AT&T’s network is down or how long it will take to restore service.
Reports have indicated that the outage has impacted public services and government officials.
Multiple law enforcement agencies posted messages on social media, warning about outages in their respective areas. For example, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office in Florida wrote that “AT&T is experiencing an outage. Subscribers are unable to call or text 911.”
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management wrote that its 911 center remained operational, but it cautioned that many AT&T users were not able to reach the emergency department due to the service outage. It suggested people use a landline or find a person using a different cellphone service to make a phone call.
“We are aware of an issue impacting AT&T wireless customers from making and receiving any phone calls,” including to 911, the department wrote in a post. “We are actively engaged and monitoring this.”
New York Police Department officials told CNN that officials cannot make calls or access emails through their AT&T phones—unless they were using Wi-Fi.
In similar statements, Virginia’s Prince William County, the Chicago Office of Emergency Management & Communications, and several other major cities sent out warnings on social media about the outage. It said that some customers could not call 911 in some instances.
For iPhone users, many AT&T and Cricket users on Thursday reported seeing “SOS” symbol, where their cellular service would normally show bars.
According to the Apple website, when an SOS symbol shows up, it means that it can only make “emergency calls.”
“When you make a call with SOS, your iPhone automatically calls the local emergency number and shares your location information with emergency services,” it says. “In some countries and regions, you might need to choose the service that you need.”
For Android users with AT&T or Cricket, many reported seeing the message: “Your phone is not registered to a network, so you can only make emergency calls.”
The Epoch Times has contacted AT&T for comment via email.