AT&T Customers Furious After Second Mass Outage in 4 Months: 'You're Expecting Me to Pay This Bill?' AT&T said that it resolved the issue before 8 p.m. Tuesday.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
AT&T users were plagued by mass outages for the second time this year on Tuesday as a glitch left hundreds in the U.S. without service for up to seven hours.
According to Down Detector, outages peaked just after 5:20 p.m. ET on Tuesday with over 3,280 customers noting they were experiencing issues with the service. By 11:20 a.m. ET on Wednesday, that number had dropped to around 180.
AT&T confirmed the outage just before 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday noting that it had been resolved for most customers.
Related: 'I Want a Free Month': Thousands of Customers Furious at AT&T After Widespread Outages
"The interoperability issue between carriers has been resolved. We collaborated with the other carrier to find a solution and appreciate our customers' patience during this period," AT&T said in a statement, per CNN.
In a statement on X early last night, the FCC noted that it was "aware of reports that consumers in multiple states are unable to make wireless calls" and that the organization is "currently investigating" the root of the problem.
Customers reported a slew of issues, especially the inability to make calls across carriers and access the internet. Most 911 calls were able to go through, but in several areas in the country, including Camden County, Georgia, and Scranton, Pennsylvania, users could not access 911 with AT&T.
"I've spent eight hours unable to text, call or access the internet," one disgruntled customer wrote. "Restarted my cell on my way home from work and miraculously got a 5G signal where I had a circle and slash all day. No idea what happened."
As a result, many Verizon Customers also reported outages, thinking the problem was on their end, as they couldn't communicate with AT&T users.
"Can not call Verizon Wireless phones," another added. "Call drops almost immediately and they are not able to call me on an AT&T phone."
AT&T users also took to X to air their grievances.
AT&T so your service is down nationwide again? that's twice this year already. You're expecting me to pay this bill?? pic.twitter.com/CAMHlDMEor
— Brandon B (@BrandonBwins) June 4, 2024
AT&T is down AGAIN? ? they charge too much for this
— SV (@_lovestace) June 4, 2024
This outage follows February's major incident, when tens of thousands of customers were left without wireless service for hours, prompting AT&T CEO John Stanley to issue refunds to businesses most affected by the glitch.
Related: AT&T CEO Reveals Cause of Mass Outages and How Much Money Affected Customers Will Get
"No matter the timing, one thing is clear – we let down many of our customers, including many of you and your families. For that, we apologize," Stankey wrote in an internal memo to employees, at the time. "Moments like these are a test of resilience. This is not our first network outage, and it won't be our last – unfortunately, it's the reality of our business. What matters most is how we react, adapt, and improve to deliver the service our customers need and expect."
AT&T was up over 18% year over year as of Wednesday morning.
