Massive Verizon Outage Leaves Phones in SOS Mode
Discover how a massive Verizon outage is causing SOS mode on phones across the U.S. with no official statement yet from Verizon Support.
More than 1.5 million Verizon customers reported wireless and data outages on Wednesday, Jan. 14, according to Downdetector.
The event is widespread across the United States, with the highest reported concentrations in New York City (47,644), Atlanta (34,229), Charlotte, Houston, and Brooklyn, according to the real-time tracking website.
“We are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers,” Verizon told USA TODAY in a statement. “Our engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly. We understand how important reliable connectivity is and apologize for the inconvenience.”
The company also posted the statement on X.
If you have a Wi-Fi connection and an iPhone, you’re in luck, as iMessages and FaceTime capabilities can be used over Wi-Fi. However, if you don’t have an iPhone or prefer using a specific messaging application, there are multiple options available.
WhatsApp is an instant messaging and voice-over platform, while Telegram is a “cloud-based and cross-platform encrypted messaging system.” Both applications are available to Android and iPhone users. WhatsApp is also a good choice for calling as it allows users to make voice and video calls, in addition to its messaging feature.
A third option is Google Voice, which assigns users a phone number by simply signing up via its website and choosing a number with a specific area code tied to a certain city. Once it’s established, it works just like a regular phone. Users can make and receive calls, texts and voicemails.
Most Google Voice calls made in the United States to other users in the United States or Canada are free; however, some domestic and international calls have a fee.
− Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAY
Customers complained on social media that the outage interfered with purchasing tickets for the upcoming Bruno Mars world tour.
Presale tickets for “The Romantic Tour,” which consists of 40 shows, were launched at 12 p.m. local time through Ticketmaster on Jan. 14. General sale tickets go on sale Jan. 15.
“The Romantic Tour” will be Mars’ first tour since his 24K Magic World Tour in 2017. It kicks off in Las Vegas in April and hits major U.S. cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, while also making stops in Canada and Europe, according to the artist’s website.
Going to a sports event or concert tonight? Make sure to add your tickets to your Apple or Google wallet before you leave home. The ongoing Verizon outage could leave you out in the cold.
NHL’s New Jersey Devils posted a notice on X ahead of Wednesday night’s game against the Seattle Kraken. “Due to ongoing network outages, we’re encouraging all fans to add their tickets to tonight’s game to their Apple/Google wallets prior to arriving at the arena to avoid any delays,” the post said.
George Washington University also posted a note on X about the night’s men’s basketball game between GW and the Davidson Wildcats.
The Verizon wireless network outage, which began about 12:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 14, had resulted in more than 1.5 million reports to Downdetector by 4:15 p.m. ET.
The realtime outage monitoring site posted a graphic on the U.S. outage just before 5 p.m. ET, noting that “the ongoing Verizon Outage that continues to impact customers across the United States. Since the start of the outage, Downdetector has now received over 1.5 million reports.”
The incident has affected more than the number of those who reported an outage to Downdetector. Verizon has 146.1 million wireless connections in the U.S.
Downdetector reports surpassed those of a Verizon outage on Aug. 30, 2025, which was one of the largest outages in 2025, according to the site.
The biggest U.S. outage in 2025? One that hit Sony’s PlayStation Network on Feb. 7, 2025, which got 1.6 million reports. The biggest global incident was an outage that hit Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Oct. 20, 2025, which led to 17 million Downdetector reports.
“This is one of the most significant nationwide connectivity interruptions in recent memory,” internet monitoring company Cisco ThousandEyes said in a note to USA TODAY.
Verizon customers were unsparing in their reaction to the outage on social media.
Other affected customers, like KHOU meteorologist Pat Calvin, noted how the sudden technological disconnect felt like the return of a bygone era.
Still others placed blame for the outage in creative places.
Downdetector’s outage map shows the largest remaining outages, as of just after 5:30 ET, are occurring near New York City, Southern New Jersey, Washington D.C and Chicago.
Other locales continuing to show large outages include: Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Boston and Tucson.
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr told Reuters after a congressional hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 14, the agency will review the outage “and take appropriate action.”
Alert systems in New York City and Washington, DC, notified residents the outage may affect some users trying to call 911. “Call using a device from another carrier, a landline, or go to a police/fire station to report emergencies,” the New York City Emergency Management said on X.
The DC government issued a similar alert on X saying, “If you have an emergency and cannot connect using your Verizon device, please connect using a device from another carrier, a landline, or go to a police or fire station to report the emergency.”
In an update from Verizon posted on X at 4:12 p.m. ET, the company said, “Verizon’s team is on the ground actively working to fix today’s service issue that is impacting some customers. We know this is a huge inconvenience, and our top priority is to get you back online and connected as fast as possible. We appreciate your patience while we work to resolve this issue.”
Reports of outages on Downdetector had fallen to more than 60,800 as of about 4:45 p.m. ET.
If you have an Apple iPhone 14 or newer model, you will see “SOS” or “SOS only” in the status bar at the top of your phone display when the cellular network isn’t available.
However, your iPhone can still make emergency calls using other networks and possibly via satellite.
If you need to make an emergency call, press and hold the side button and either volume button simultaneously until the sliders appear and the countdown on Emergency SOS ends, then release the buttons. Or, you can start an Emergency SOS call by quickly pressing the side button five times. To set up that feature, go to Settings > Emergency SOS, then turn on “Call with 5 Presses.”
On an Android phone, you may see “No Service” or “Mobile Network Not Detected,” but you can make an emergency call using Emergency SOS mode, on Android 12 and later models, notes prepaid phone provider TextNow.
Leave it to Krispy Kreme to sweeten a situation. The doughnut chain is giving away free Original Glazed doughnuts from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday night to those who had to deal with “the frustrating ‘service outage’ today,” the company said in a statement sent to USA TODAY. (One free doughnut per customer.)
Krispy Kreme also posted about the outage offer on Instagram and X saying, “because some days need a sweet backup plan you can rely on.”
A few customers posting on social media and on Downdetector said they had begun to get service back.
Where some see a problem, others see an opportunity. T-Mobile hinted that issues reported by its customers could be Verizon’s fault.
“T-Mobile’s network is keeping our customers connected, and we’ve confirmed that our network is operating normally and as expected,” the company said in a post on X at 2:28 p.m. ET. “However due to Verizon’s reported outage, our customers may not be able to reach someone with Verizon service at this time.”
Verizon said its engineers are “continuing to address today’s service interruptions,” the company said in an update on X at 2:14 p.m. ET. “Our teams remain fully deployed and are focused on the issue. We understand the impact this has on your day and remain committed to resolving this as quickly as possible.”
By 2 p.m. ET, the number of Verizon customers reporting outages had fallen to about 110,000 from a high of about 178,000. Verizon is the largest wireless provider in the U.S. with 146.1 million wireless connections.
Customers on other major providers also began reporting outages on Downdetector on Wednesday, too, with more than 1,600 on T-Mobile and more than 1,700 reporting AT&T outages.
As the outage spread, Verizon quickly became a top trending topic on the social media platform X with commenters across the U.S. mentioning the outage from North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, Tennessee and more.
Mobile users got “Call Failed” notices when attempting to make calls and found an “SOS” icon replacing the signal strength symbols, showing an issue on the network.
This is a developing story.
