AT&T Is Having Widespread Network Issues as Customers Report Outages

James Martin/CNET

AT&T’s wireless network appears to be dealing with a major outage. The carrier on Thursday confirmed to CNET that it’s suffering from “wireless service interruptions.”

“Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning,” a spokesperson said. “We are working urgently to restore service to them. We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”

When on Wi-Fi, you can still make calls and send messages through services like Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime, and Meta’s WhatsApp. AT&T also offers Wi-Fi calling that allows you to place calls over a Wi-Fi network using your regular number if you already have the feature enabled on your device.

As of 11 a.m. ET, the service did appear to be returning for some. In an updated statement, the company said that service has been restored to 75% of its network.

“Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning,” the company said. “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.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the outage, how widespread it was or when all services might return to normal. Reports on social media suggested the outage was widespread with Downdetector, a website where users can report issues with websites and services, showing a spike in problems with AT&T beginning around 4 a.m. ET across the country.

AT&T said that its first responder network, known as FirstNet, was operating during the outage.

“Early this morning, service was affected for some subscribers across the country. The team took immediate action, prioritizing restoration of public safety’s communications, and service is currently running normally across the FirstNet network,” the company said.

“As always, we take our responsibility for delivering effective communications for the public safety community seriously and are committed to network stability and transparency. An assessment of this event is underway, and we will continue to keep you updated as we learn more.”

While reports suggested that issues were also affecting the networks of Verizon and T-Mobile, both carriers confirmed to CNET that their respective offerings were fine.

“We did not experience an outage. Our network is operating normally,” a T-Mobile spokesperson said. “Down Detector is likely reflecting challenges our customers were having attempting to connect to users on other networks.”

“Verizon’s network is operating normally,” a Verizon spokesperson said. “Some customers experienced issues this morning when calling or texting with customers served by another carrier. We are continuing to monitor the situation.”

CNET will update this story as we learn more.

I Took 600+ Photos With the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Look at My Favorites

The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max are defined by their refinements. This pair of phones is one of the most compelling camera upgrades from Apple in years.The 15 Pro has a tried and true 3x telephoto camera like previous models. But the 15 Pro Max has a new 5x telephoto camera that’s made with multiple prisms and some clever engineering.This was taken with the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 5x zoom camera.

One nifty addition to both phones is the ability to change the focus after you take a portrait photo. Check out this ’90s grunge band photo of me and my pal Beacham. I can change the focus from me to him after I take the picture. This is going to be a killer feature for parents.

This was taken with the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 5x zoom camera which also has a 3D sensor-shift optical image stabilization system that helps with shaky hands.

I took this with the 5x zoom on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

A night mode snap from the iPhone 15 Pro at 2x.

The main camera’s sensor on both phones is larger helping it capture brighter photos in low light with less image noise, like this one of a Boring Clam.

Just CNET’s Celso Bulgatti filming footage for our iPhone review. I took this with the 15 Pro’s main camera.

I took this with the 5x zoom on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Lens flares and haloes are improved but still show up in some photos.

This was taken with the iPhone 15 Pro’s main camera.

A 5x zoom photo from the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Another 5x zoom photo from the 15 Pro Max of the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco.

I took this with the 5x zoom on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Chocolate croissants captured with the iPhone 15 Pro’s main camera.

Here’s New York’s Katz’s Deli taken with the iPhone 15 Pro at 1x.

And here it is at 2x.

A lazy cat caught in the act of being lazy with the iPhone 15 Pro Max at 5x.

I used 2x on the 15 Pro’s main camera to take this photo.

An iPhone 15 Pro Max photo at 5x at taken at sunset.

Here’s a photo from the 15 Pro’s main camera.

I snagged this shot of the Statue of Liberty with the 15 Pro Max at 7x digital zoom.

I took this with the 5x zoom on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Another 5x zoom from the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

A 1x photo of a comfy cat from the 15 Pro Max’s main camera.

An ultra wide photo from the the 15 Pro.

A night mode snap from the 15 Pro.

Another night mode photo from the 15 Pro.

The 15 Pro’s main camera expertly grabbed this photo of a penguin.

Here’s another 15 Pro main camera image, this time of CNET’s Mariel Meyers.

Sneaker snap courtesy of the iPhone 15 Pro’s main camera.

I took this with 8x digital zoom on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Here’s a photo from the 15 Pro max’s 5x camera.

And here’s another photo from the 15 Pro max’s 5x camera.

Look at the denim texture in this 15 Pro pic from the main camera.

I took this with the 5x zoom on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.