On January 14, 2026, Verizon Communications, one of the largest mobile carriers in the United States, experienced a widespread network outage that left hundreds of thousands of customers unable to make calls, send text messages, or use mobile data for much of the day. Many users reported their phones showing “SOS” mode, indicating a total loss of service, in cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.
The disruption began in the late morning and peaked in the afternoon, with more than 170,000 outage reports recorded on monitoring platforms. Verizon acknowledged the issue on social media, stating that its technical teams were actively working to restore service.
Later, the company confirmed that service was fully restored after nearly 10 hours of disruption and announced it would offer bill credits to affected customers as compensation.
Did the outage affect emergency services like 911?
Yes. Authorities warned that some emergency calls made from Verizon lines may have been impacted, advising people to use landlines or other carriers when possible during the outage.