Verizon says hourslong outage disrupting calls and data has been resolved

Verizon said it fixed an outage that disrupted calling and other cellular services for many U.S. customers for more than 10 hours on Wednesday.

The New York-based carrier did not explain what caused the disruption but confirmed service was restored by 10:20 p.m. ET. Verizon earlier said it had sent engineering teams to resolve “an issue impacting wireless voice and data services.”

“Today, we let many of our customers down and for that, we are truly sorry,” Verizon wrote in updates shared on social media. A spokesperson later said the company would provide affected customers with a $20 account credit through Verizon’s app, which on average “covers multiple days of service,” and would directly reach out to business customers regarding compensation.

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. Our teams will continue to work through the night until service is restored for all impacted customers.

We will make this right -…

— Verizon News (@VerizonNews) January 15, 2026

Outage tracker Downdetector showed that Verizon customers started reporting service issues around noon ET on Wednesday. Reports appeared to peak in the early afternoon but stayed elevated later into the day. Downdetector said it received more than 1.5 million reports before 5 p.m. ET.

Affected users said their phones displayed “SOS” mode or other no-signal messages. In cities such as New York, alerts warned that the outage could disrupt 911 calls, urging residents to use landlines or devices from other carriers if available, or to visit a local police or fire station in person during an emergency.

Other major hubs affected by Verizon’s outage included Houston, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Miami, according to Downdetector. Still, many customers across the country said they experienced service disruptions.

A small number of outage reports for other carriers also surfaced on Wednesday, but companies such as T-Mobile and AT&T quickly confirmed online that their services were operating normally. Both noted that their customers may have faced issues reaching people using Verizon’s network.

When cellular outages occur, some phone companies advise customers to connect to Wi-Fi and use internet calling. If Wi-Fi is unavailable, options can be limited, though newer iPhones may allow messages to be sent via satellite.