Federal and local officials investigating Verizon’s massive outage are increasingly pointing to a suspected server failure in New Jersey as the company definitively ruled out a cyberattack.
The telecoms giant was apologetic late Wednesday after hourslong disruptions knocked phones offline nationwide and even interfered with some 911 calls.
A company spokesperson told The Post on Thursday morning that a “software issue” was to blame.
The outage, which began Wednesday afternoon and dragged into the late hours, triggered a flood of complaints from coast to coast as Verizon customers reported phones stuck in SOS mode, dropped calls and dead mobile data.
Multiple law enforcement agencies examined whether the breakdown could have been the result of a cyberattack, but that scenario was ultimately ruled out, with officials believing the failure stemmed from an internal network issue tied to servers in New Jersey, according to reports cited by ABC News.
More than 178,000 Verizon customers were affected, according to Downdetector, with the heaviest concentration of reports coming from New York City, Atlanta, Charlotte and Houston.
By midafternoon Wednesday, reports had fallen below 60,000 as service gradually returned.
Customers took to the internet to vent their anger as they described losing service for much of the day.
Some Verizon subscribers saw brief restorations before their phones dropped back into SOS mode while others complained they couldn’t work, place calls or reliably reach family members.
The outage grew serious enough that New York City Emergency Management warned residents that some Verizon users were unable to reach 911 and advised calling from another carrier, using a landline or going directly to a police precinct or fire station.
By late Wednesday, Verizon said the issue had been resolved after engineers worked through the night to restore service across the network.
“This was a software issue, not a cyber event, and we are conducting a full review of what happened,” a Verizon spokesperson told The Post.
“Yesterday, we did not meet the standard of excellence our customers expect and that we expect of ourselves.”
Verizon said it will give customers a $20 account credit that can be redeemed through the myVerizon app.
“On average, this covers multiple days of service. Our business customers will be contacted directly about their credits,” the company rep told The Post.
“This credit isn’t meant to make up for what happened — no credit really can — but it’s a way of acknowledging our customers’ time and showing that this matters to us,” the spokesperson added.
“We are sorry for what our customers experienced and will continue to work hard day and night to provide the outstanding network and service that people expect from Verizon.”
