On January 14, 2026, Verizon’s wireless network suffered a sudden nationwide outage. Millions of customers – especially on the U.S. East Coast – reported dropped calls, texts, and data service, with many phones stuck in “SOS” mode or showing no signal.
Tracking sites saw massive spikes in outage reports. Downdetector logged over 180,000 reports at the peak, and more than a million problem reports over the 24 hours of the outage. Verizon acknowledged the outage on social media, apologized to customers, and vowed to “make this right” by issuing account credits to anyone affected.
Outage Timeline and Scope
The disruption began early in the afternoon and persisted through the evening, affecting major metropolitan areas significantly.
- 12:30 PM ET (Jan 14): Verizon users first noticed service dropping out. Many phones on the East Coast switched to “SOS” or “No Service” mode.
- Afternoon: Outage reports on Downdetector surged. By about 1 PM, the tracker showed roughly 115,000 issues, quickly rising to a peak around 180,000 reports. This made it one of Verizon’s largest outages in recent memory.
- Affected Areas: Major metro regions bore the brunt. New York City, Washington D.C., Boston, and other Northeastern cities reported the highest outage volumes. Users from Florida up to Albany, NY, and as far west as Texas and Missouri also reported problems.
- Evening: By late evening, the situation slowly improved. Downdetector reports fell to only a few tens of thousands by around 8–9 PM ET. Verizon’s network was still not fully normal then, but the worst of the outage had passed.
During the outage, many local authorities took notice. New York City and Washington D.C. both issued alerts reminding people that 911 calls might be affected and advising them to use landlines or alternate carriers for emergencies. Importantly, rival carriers reported no problems – AT&T and T-Mobile both confirmed their networks were operating normally.
Note: Voice calls to 911 will typically still connect in SOS mode by piggybacking on other available networks, but text-to-911 may not go through.
Verizon’s Response
Verizon was initially slow to provide details but did issue periodic updates. Its first public message stated engineers were “working to identify and solve the issue quickly.” Several hours later, Verizon posted a formal apology:
“Today, we let many of our customers down and for that, we are truly sorry. Our teams will continue to work through the night until service is restored for all impacted customers… We will make this right – for any customer affected, we will provide account credits and share updates soon.”
By late Thursday (after roughly ten hours of outage), Verizon announced the service was back online. It urged any remaining customers who still lacked service to restart their devices to reconnect.
What Customers Can Do
If you are still experiencing issues or want to be prepared for future disruptions, here are some steps you can take:
- Restart Your Phone: If your service is still spotty after the outage, power your phone off and on. Verizon specifically advised that any customer still having an issue should restart their device to reconnect to the restored network.
- Use Wi-Fi Calling: Whenever possible, switch to Wi-Fi calling or use internet-based messaging (WhatsApp, iMessage, etc.) until cellular service returns.
- Emergency Calls: Remember, even without a Verizon signal, you can still make voice calls to 911 on most phones. If you must reach emergency services during an outage, use a landline or borrow someone’s phone on another carrier.
- Track the Outage: Check Verizon’s official network status page or third-party trackers like Downdetector for updates.
Bonus – A Sweet Apology
On a lighter note, Krispy Kreme gave away free Original Glazed doughnuts to affected Verizon customers on the East Coast between 5–7 PM on Jan 14. One way to turn a sour day sweet!
Final Update
By the morning of Jan 15, Verizon declared that its network was fully back to normal operation. The company has not publicly revealed the root cause of the outage but stated it found “no indication of a cyberattack” being responsible. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has said it will review the incident to see if any further action is needed.
For now, customers are left hoping that service remains stable and looking for the promised account credit in their next billing statement.