AT&T isn’t happy with US Cellular Networks

At&T’s First Responder Network Is Running Normally, and How Much Do Its Customers Really Need to Know About Other Networks?

“We are watching and engaging with this.” The San Francisco center is still operational. If you cannot get through to the emergency services with your AT&T number, then you should call from a phone line. If that is not possible, you can ask your friend or family member to call the police if they use a different carrier. The department stated that they should not call or text to test their phone service.

Downdetector said that Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Chicago, Indianapolis, New York, Miami and Charlotte reported the highest number of outages. Houston had more than 2,000 reports by about 8:30 a.m. ET, while New York reported about 1,300.

The news isn’t all bad. AT&T confirmed that FirstNet, the first responder network that AT&T built out, is operating normally. It’s an imperfect substitute, but if you’re in a location where wi-fi calling is available, it should suffice. (To turn on Wi-Fi calling, go to your smartphone’s Settings, then Network & internet, then switch the Wi-Fi Calling toggle to on. Exact wording might vary depending on your phone model and operating system.)

“We did not experience an outage,” a T-Mobile spokesperson told WIRED over email. Our network is working normally. It’s possible that Downdetector reflects challenges our customers were having trying to connect to other networks.

Similarly, a Verizon spokesperson said over email that “Verizon’s network is operating normally. Some customers experienced issues this morning when calling or texting with customers served by another carrier.”

There are reports of AT&T service issues on the East Coast. Customers complained across Reddit and X and logged their issues on Downdetector, a site that, well, detects when services go down.