Telecom giant Verizon said a “software issue” was the culprit behind widespread outages on Wednesday. Major Cell Phone Carrier Experiences Widespread Outages The cell phone carrier said it would provide a $20 account credit to those affected by the outages. "Yesterday, we did not meet the standard of excellence you expect and that we expect of ourselves. To help provide some relief to those affected, we will give you a $20 account credit that can be easily redeemed by logging into the myVerizon app. You will receive a text message when the credit is available. On average, this covers multiple days of service. Business customers will be contacted directly about their credits. This credit isn’t meant to make up for what happened. No credit really can. But it’s a way of acknowledging your time and showing that this matters to us," Verizon announced. "If you’re still having trouble connecting, please restart your device (power down and power back on). This is the fastest way to reconnect your phone to the network. We are sorry for what you experienced and will continue to work hard day and night to provide the outstanding network and service that you expect from Verizon," it added. Yesterday, we did not meet the standard of excellence you expect and that we expect of ourselves. To help provide some relief to those affected, we will give you a $20 account credit that can be easily redeemed by logging into the myVerizon app. You will receive a text message… — Verizon News (@VerizonNews) January 15, 2026 More from the New York Post: A company spokesperson told The Post on Thursday morning that a “software issue” was to blame. The outage, which began Wednesday afternoon and dragged into the late hours, triggered a flood of complaints from coast to coast as Verizon customers reported phones stuck in SOS mode, dropped calls and dead mobile data. Multiple law enforcement agencies examined whether the breakdown could have been the result of a cyberattack, but that scenario was ultimately ruled out, with officials believing the failure stemmed from an internal network issue tied to servers in New Jersey, according to reports cited by ABC News. More than 178,000 Verizon customers were affected, according to Downdetector, with the heaviest concentration of reports coming from New York City, Atlanta, Charlotte and Houston. By midafternoon Wednesday, reports had fallen below 60,000 as service gradually returned. The Verizon outage is one of numerous tech disturbances to occur in recent memory. For example, AT&T had a widespread outage in 2024. JUST IN: AT&T and Verizon are reporting outages in spots all across the U.S. At least 24 states are reporting issues, which also includes 911 systems. Why does this keep happening?! pic.twitter.com/EJMXlRMrPP — Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) June 4, 2024 WCVB explained further: The outage is one of several high-profile tech outages in the past year that have interrupted daily life for thousands, including an Amazon Web Services issue that took down most of the web in October. In 2024, a widespread AT&T outage left customers across the United States without service and prompted a Federal Communications Commission investigation. Some users on social media reported their phones being stuck in SOS mode or losing access to service, trends that Downdetector also noticed in its analysis of user-submitted reports. Among those reports, 59% cited issues related to “mobile phone failure,” while 34% mentioned a “loss of signal.” The issue reports began to escalate around noon and have been declining throughout the afternoon Eastern time, according to Downdetector’s public data. Its data indicates the outage has particularly impacted New York City, Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston and Dallas. Users also reported problems with AT&T and T-Mobile service on Downdetector, although spokespeople for both networks said their services are operating normally. Customers may experience service issues when trying to contact those on Verizon. “T-Mobile’s network is keeping our customers connected, and we’ve confirmed that our network is operating normally and as expected,” T-Mobile said in a comment to CNN. “However, due to Verizon’s reported outage, our customers may not be able to reach someone with Verizon service at this time.”