Verizon faces significant nationwide wireless service outage due to software issue

On Saturday, August 30, 2025, U.S. Verizon customers reported extensive issues with their mobile networks, primarily experiencing disruptions where their devices were limited to SOS mode. This problem affected users from California to Florida, who took to social media and outage tracking site DownDetector to voice their complaints. Reports of the outage began surfacing shortly after 12 p.m. Eastern Time, peaking around 3:30 p.m. with nearly 23,000 complaints registered. SOS mode indicates that mobile devices could only connect to emergency services such as 911, with no access to standard cellular services. In response to the widespread outage, Verizon acknowledged the existence of a "software issue impacting wireless service for some customers." The company stated that its engineers were actively engaged in identifying and resolving the technical difficulties as quickly as possible. They directed customers to their Check Network Status page for real-time updates regarding service availability in their regions and expressed appreciation for their customers' patience during this disruption. Many frustrated customers commented on the situation, expressing that the company's characterization of the impact as limited to just "some" users did not reflect their experiences. For instance, one user noted that all their friends in Los Angeles who were Verizon customers were similarly affected, emphasizing the widespread nature of the issue. The situation was reminiscent of a previous outage experienced by Verizon in October 2024, which garnered over 100,000 reports on DownDetector, highlighting ongoing reliability concerns for the provider's network. As the company continues to address this latest service failure, the affected customers remain anxious about the reliability of their mobile service, particularly given their reliance on Verizon's network for essential communication and emergency access.