Verizon mobile outage affecting tens of thousands across U.S.

Editor’s note: On Sept. 30, at 7:18 p.m., Verizon announced on social media that the service was restored, “Verizon engineers have fully restored today’s network disruption that impacted some customers. Service has returned to normal levels. If you are still having issues, we recommend restarting your device. We know how much people rely on Verizon and apologize for any inconvenience. We appreciate your patience.”

Verizon mobile users are reporting mobile phones stuck in SOS mode with no ability to text or make/receive calls, according to Downdetector.com. As of 11 a.m. EST on Monday, Sept. 30, over 103,000 reports were logged by the cell and internet outage reporting website.

Verizon is aware of the issue and stated to CBS MoneyWatch that, “We are aware of an issue impacting service for some customers,” a spokesperson said. “Our engineers are engaged and we are working quickly to identify and solve the issue.”

AT&T and T-Mobile are also reporting smaller outages, in the thousands, that began at about the same time.

What is an SOS phone status?

If your phone gives you an SOS message, it’s trying to connect to a network but can’t find any.  You can, however, still make 911 emergency calls when it’s in this mode.

You’ll need to wait it out for your carrier to restore service. Verizon has not released yet released a time for restoration.