[UPDATE] Verizon Outage Knocks Down Wireless Voice & Data Services For Thousands Across the US

[UPDATE 2 12:51 AM IST | Jan 15, 2026] NBC News reports that the Verizon outage has prompted emergency alerts in Washington and New York City. The AlertDC system is sending out notifications to citizens in Washington DC, which reads, “If you have an emergency and can not connect using your Verizon Wireless device, please connect using a device from another carrier, a landline, or go to a police district or fire station to report the emergency.” The news agency also notes that New York City’s Office of Emergency Management has acknowledged the widespread Verizon outage without mentioning its name.

[UPDATE 12:44 AM IST | Jan 15, 2026] Verizon has just shared yet another update on X, stating that engineering teams remain fully deployed and focused on restoring services. However, no clear timeline has been provided yet, and the company hasn’t confirmed how many users were impacted. While reports have declined since their peak, thousands of customers are still experiencing issues.

[ORIGINAL STORY] A fresh Verizon outage has left many customers without voice calls and mobile data. Earlier today, reports began coming out that many users were noticing “SOS” instead of regular signal bars on their phones. In many cases, calls failed to connect, and mobile data stopped working altogether.

Verizon is down right now across the United States

From what’s being reported online, the outage mainly knocked down voice and wireless data services. Text messages, however, still appear to be working for some users, but for how long, no one can tell, honestly. The worst of all, Verizon’s own network status page struggled to load while the disruption was unfolding, adding to the confusion.

According to DownDetector, outage reports started rising around noon ET and quickly spiked into the hundreds of thousands. Many of those reports may have come from users trying to reach Verizon customers and assuming their own network was at fault. Verizon has since acknowledged the issue.

In a post on X, the company confirmed that wireless voice and data services were affected for some customers. Verizon said its engineering teams are actively working to identify and resolve the problem, while also apologizing for the inconvenience caused.

Major cities in the United States, such as Boston, New York, and Washington, DC saw the highest number of reports.

This is a developing story…

Article feature image source: Verizon