AT&T to credit customers a full day of service for Thursday outage

FILE PHOTO: The company logo for AT&T is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., September 18, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

(Reuters) – AT&T will credit customers a full day of service for the carrier’s more than 10-hour outage on Thursday that affected more than 70,000 users, saying it was the “right thing to do.”

“I believe this approach is fully manageable while achieving the 2024 business objectives we have set for ourselves and our stated financial guidance,” CEO John Stankey told employees in a letter.

Service was restored late on Thursday on AT&T’s 5G network which covers around 290 million people across the United States.

An initial review found the outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used while working to expand the network, the company said, ruling out a cyberattack.

“Outages sometimes have outsized impacts on some subscribers that may be greater than the face value of the credit,” Stankey said. “For that reason, I believe that crediting those customers for essentially a full day of service is the right thing to do.”

The credit will be applied automatically, while prepaid customers will have options available if they were affected, he added.

An AT&T spokesperson on Sunday declined to say how many customers would get the billing credit or how much it would cost the company.

AT&T said it will work with Mid-Market and Enterprise customers to address their concerns.

The Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday it was investigating the incident. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is working with AT&T to understand the cause.

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru and David Shepardson; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Richard Chang)