AT&T Customers Reporting Cellular Outages Nationwide

AT&T customers reported widespread cellular outages starting early Thursday morning.

Details: Roughly 75,000 outages were reported around 9:15 a.m. EST. By 4:30 PM EST, outlets reported that service was restored. The outages appeared to be most frequent in the south and southeast United States, with metro areas especially impacted including Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Oklahoma City and Raleigh, N.C. AT&T reportedly has more than 90 million cellphone subscribers. Customers of other networks, including Verizon and T-Mobile, reported service disruptions, but statements from Verizon and T-Mobile indicated these disruptions are stemming from customers calling or texting customers on other networks.

Key Quotes: AT&T said in a statement that “Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. Our network teams took immediate action and so far three-quarters of our network has been restored. We are working as quickly as possible to restore service to remaining customers.” Another statement from AT&T urged customers without service to use “Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”

How the Media Covered It: The outages were a top story in outlets across the spectrum on Thursday. Outlets detailed how customers without cell service can still contact emergency services.