Several Verizon users across the United States experienced widespread network outages during the early hours of Friday morning, with cell and internet services offline in several regions, resulting in connectivity issues for many, according to Downdetector data.
How many users were affected?
Outage reports rose from 96 at 9:26 a.m. ET to 7,163 at 9:56 a.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 17, according to Downdetector, a website that monitors network problems in real time.
Users in cities such as New York, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, Seattle, Phoenix and Atlanta were significantly affected.
Downdetector noted that 51% of complaints reported by Verizon users were about mobile phones, while 32% were over 5G home internet.
Why is this important?
Verizon is among the largest mobile and broadband providers in the US, offering more than 146.1 million wireless retail connections and 10.4 million broadband connections by the end of June 2025, according to a Newsweek report.
The latest complaints come days after customers reported similar problems with Verizon’s network.
On October 10, several users on social media reported widespread outages. Users have complained about problems connecting to the Verizon network. More than 1000 complaints have been registered on Downdetector.
About 58% of users reported problems with their mobile internet, 24% said they had “No Signal” and 18% had problems with their 5G home internet.
Verizon announced an upgrade in June that gives customers access to a Customer Champion and an AI assistant that provides updates via an app, text message or phone call.
In April, ethical hacker Evan Connelly reported that millions of Verizon customers were at risk of having their call history exposed due to a security vulnerability in the company’s Call Filter app. Connelly wrote, “This wasn’t just a data breach. It was a real-time surveillance mechanism waiting to be exploited,” the Newsweek report said.
What did Verizon say about the outage?
A Verizon spokesperson told the news outlet, “Some Verizon customers in the Charlotte, North Carolina area may have experienced a brief service outage early Thursday morning. Engineers were able to identify the issue and quickly resolve it.”
