US carrier AT&T suffered a major network outage on Thursday, February 22 that kept its customers out of data and voice services across the nation. The disruption which lasted 11 hours is now under investigation as the operator says it was caused by a faulty software update and not a sinister intent. The network has now been restored.
As the network went off, customers on Thursday were left unable to make calls, use the internet, or send short messages (SMS). At around 1:45 AM (Friday), the telco said that its services were back online after 11 hours of outage.
“We have restored wireless service to all our affected customers. We sincerely apologize to them,” The Dallas-based telco said in a statement. The company also added that it’s “taking steps to ensure our customers do not experience this again in the future.”
The company maintained that the outage had nothing to do with a cyberattack and was caused by a glitch in a software update. But what’s also interesting is that Verizon and T-Mobile subscribers were also facing network issues. However, their case was not as intense. Both said that their customers were unable to establish any contact with the users who were on the AT&T network.
In the meantime, the US regulator Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said that it is going to conduct an investigation.
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FCC to investigate
“We are aware of the reported wireless outages, and our Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau is actively investigating,” the FCC said, “We are in touch with AT&T and public safety authorities, including FirstNet, as well as other providers.”
FCC is said to be more serious about the emergency number 911 not functioning than other regular numbers. And there could be a possibility of a hefty fine on the telco’s part for it.
At least 74,000 customers reported AT&T network outage
After the AT&T network outage that began on Thursday morning around 4 am ET (NPT 2:45 PM), 74,000 customers reported network disruption on DownDetecter, a service tracking platform. But it is far less than the actual number of users who suffered as it tracks only those who reported by themselves. Such reports though kept coming in for hours. Earlier in the day, the carrier did acknowledge the widespread outage but, gave no reason for it. However, offered advice that users should use WiFi calling instead till the network is restored.
“Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. We are working urgently to restore service to them. “We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored,” the company said in its initial statement. After a whopping 11 hours, the company said that its services were back online.
When the cellular network is not available, users can activate WiFi calling to place calls over WiFi. It’s available on most modern handsets.
Also read: VoLTE vs VoWiFi: Difference, Benefits | Find Comparison of Two Calling Methods
The telco blames it on an “incorrect process”
AT&T said that its network outage was caused by an internal issue and ruled out any foreign cyberattack. On Thursday, the company said it believed the massive outage was caused by an internal issue.
“Based on our initial review, we believe that today’s outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network, not a cyberattack,” AT&T said in a statement. “We are continuing our assessment of today’s outage to ensure we keep delivering the service that our customers deserve.”
Meanwhile, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is working closely with AT&T to find out the cause and impact of the outage and offer help if needed.
Nationwide network disruptions are not usual but not uncommon. For e.g., in early 2023, the Ntc network went down in Koshi Province after a fiber breakage. In July 2022, Rogers Network in Canada had to endure a 19-hour-long disruption. Likewise, in November 2023, almost half of Australians lost their telecom services when the Optus network went down for which the company’s CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin had to step down later.
What’s the longest duration you had to stay without mobile service due to a network outage? Did you resort to WiFi calls or home internet during that time? Do share your experience in the comment section below.
