Many Verizon customers experienced significant disruption on September 30, with their phones stuck in SOS mode due to an apparent outage. Fortunately, Verizon quickly acknowledged the issue and later confirmed on their press account on X that the problem had been resolved.
The outage began around 10:00 a.m. yesterday when service tracker Downdetector noted a surge in reports from customers experiencing difficulties making phone calls. By 7 p.m. ET, reports of issues began to decline, and many users reported that they could once again make calls, with service remaining stable overnight.
While Verizon has not provided a specific cause for the outage, their engineers have been actively investigating. Many affected customers reported being unable to make inbound or outbound calls, while others found their phones switched to SOS mode, indicating a loss of network connectivity. This mode typically activates when a device cannot connect to the network due to either poor signal reception or issues with the carrier’s infrastructure.
The outage impacted both iPhone and Android users, as well as disrupting Wi-Fi calling services, which are usually a fallback option. By 6:15 p.m. ET, Verizon announced that service had been restored.
A Verizon spokesperson confirmed the service disruption had ended, stating, “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.”
As reports of restored service continued to come in, our managing editor, Philip Michaels, shared that his service was back up and running after being down for most of the day. Other users on X and Threads echoed similar sentiments, noting that they were finally regaining service.
Verizon has assured customers that their engineers are diligently working to ensure the network remains stable and that all issues are fully resolved.