AT&T, the American telephone and telegraph company, faced service disruptions affecting users in certain areas of the United States on Tuesday, August 27th. Users reported that their iPhones were either unable to connect or stuck in SOS emergency mode. The telecom giant attributed the service interruption to a software issue, which has since been resolved.
In a statement delivered to CNN via email on Wednesday, a spokesperson for AT&T acknowledged the software problem that had interfered with some users’ ability to connect to the company’s wireless network. They expressed deep apologies for any inconvenience caused and thanked users for their patience as they worked to address the issue.
CNN reported that while AT&T did not immediately disclose the exact number of affected users or the duration of the Tuesday outage, data from the digital service tracking website Downdetector indicated a significant surge in reports of AT&T service disruptions starting around 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday. The number of reports peaked around 7 p.m., surpassing 5700 reports, before sharply decreasing by 10 p.m.
According to another email from an AT&T spokesperson to CNN on Tuesday night, the outage affected “some users” but was not nationwide. However, data from Downdetector on Wednesday indicated that over the past 24 hours, the service interruption appeared to impact numerous users in the Midwest and East Coast, with the highest number of reports coming from cities like Dallas, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, and New York City. Reports also emerged from California.
Meanwhile, users in some regions reported that the AT&T service disruption had impacted their ability to call the emergency 911 hotline.
Downdetector data also revealed reports of 911 service disruptions in Florida and Michigan, although it remained unclear whether these were directly related to AT&T’s service outage.
Certain local government 911 agencies took to social media to share this information, urging residents to call non-emergency hotlines if they were unable to reach 911, as landlines and other wireless carriers were unaffected by the service disruption incident.
As per a report by USA Today, for AT&T users experiencing service disruptions on Tuesday, the SOS symbol might have appeared on their iPhone screens, indicating a lack of connection to the cellular network. SOS is a feature on iPhone and iPad devices applicable in the United States, Australia, and Canada.
Apple stated, “When you use SOS to make a call, your iPhone will automatically dial the local emergency number and share your location information with emergency services.”
“In some countries and regions, you may need to choose the appropriate service yourself,” Apple added.