Verizon has successfully restored its cellular service after over 100,000 customers reported issues with the network that began early Monday morning. The disruption lasted throughout much of the workday, with services starting to come back online in the afternoon and evening.
The company first acknowledged the problem affecting some customers early Monday, indicating that their engineers were actively working on a solution. Verizon spokesperson Ilya Hemlin stated, “Our engineers are engaged and we are working quickly to identify and solve the issue.”
As of 3:15 p.m. on Monday, representatives from Verizon had not provided details regarding the cause of the service disruption. However, shortly after 4 p.m., the company announced that engineers were making progress and that service restoration had begun. By around 6:30 p.m., they confirmed that all services were back up and running.
For users still experiencing issues, Verizon advised on social media that some may need to restart their phones to reconnect to the cellular network. The company’s outage map indicated widespread issues across Iowa, including cities like Des Moines, Ames, and Iowa City. Outage reports also came in from major Midwest cities such as Chicago, Minneapolis, and Columbus.
Many users with Apple iPhones saw “SOS” displayed next to their battery icon, indicating a lack of cell connection. In this mode, users can only make emergency calls using alternate networks. To contact emergency services, users can press and hold the side button along with either volume button until the emergency SOS countdown ends.
Verizon users can also utilize Wi-Fi calling as an alternative. This feature allows calls and texts to be made over a Wi-Fi network instead of relying on the cellular network, which can help in areas with poor coverage. Calls made through Wi-Fi to U.S. numbers do not consume data from the cellular plan, but they do count against the data allowance of the Wi-Fi provider.
To enable Wi-Fi calling on an iPhone, users should go to Settings, then Phone, and select Wi-Fi Calling. Users may need to confirm their address for emergency services. On Android devices, the setup can be done through Settings, then Network and Internet, tapping on Calls and SMS, selecting the Wi-Fi Calling network, and activating the feature.
Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez is a general assignment reporter for the Register.