Verizon customers experience widespread service outages across the U.S

In the early hours of Thursday morning, Verizon mobile and internet customers across the United States experienced significant service outages. Reports began to flood in around midnight ET, peaking at 1,244 reports at 12:56 a.m. ET according to data released by Downdetector. The outage appears to have primarily impacted users during the early hours, leading to allegations that it could affect both businesses and individual consumers; however, normal coverage was largely restored by around 3 a.m. ET. Verizon, one of the largest mobile and broadband providers in the U.S., serves over 146 million wireless retail connections along with 10.4 million broadband connections. The timing of the outage minimized impact for many customers, as most were not awake or active users during the late-night hours. Many users took to social media to express their frustrations with the service interruption, showcasing an increasing impatience with the perceived reliability of Verizon. Despite the peak of the service disruptions, which returned to baseline levels by approximately 3:14 a.m. ET, customers voiced concerns about their experiences. Reactions ranged from disappointment with the company’s transparency to calls for consumer credits in lieu of unreported outages. This dissatisfaction comes against a backdrop of another Verizon issue; in January, the company began paying out settlements due to a class action lawsuit related to undisclosed administrative charges levied against customers. Additionally, ethical hacker Evan Connelly revealed earlier this year that a serious security flaw in Verizon's Call Filter app put millions at risk of having their call histories exposed. This developing story on Verizon’s outages reflects broader trends in customer service dissatisfaction within the telecommunications industry. As companies like Verizon invest in innovations to improve customer service, including access to dedicated Customer Champions and AI assistants, the pressure mounts to ensure reliability to avoid losing loyal customers amid increasing competition. It remains to be seen how Verizon will address these most recent service challenges and respond to customer concerns regarding both outages and previous transparency issues.