Verizon hit by major outage on January 14, 2026, after a sudden nationwide disruption knocked out cellular access for customers across the United States. Voice calls, text messaging and mobile data stopped working for many users within minutes.
The outage began around midday Eastern Time, triggering a surge of complaints as phones switched to SOS mode. This emergency only state allows calls through nearby networks when a carrier signal is unavailable.
What Users Experienced:
- Complete loss of cellular signal
- Phones stuck in SOS mode
- Failed calls and undelivered messages
- No access to mobile internet
Reports to outage tracking services quickly climbed past 180,000, showing how widespread the issue became. Major cities affected included New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Houston and several Midwest regions. This is not the first time Verizon customers have faced a nationwide service failure. A similar outage in 2025 disrupted cellular service across major U.S. cities, raising ongoing concerns about network reliability during large-scale disruptions.
Local authorities in New York and Washington, D.C. urged residents to rely on landlines or alternative carriers for urgent communication while service was down.
Verizon confirmed the disruption, apologized to customers, and said engineering teams were working to restore connectivity. The company did not share the cause of the outage or a firm repair timeline.
Meanwhile, AT&T and T-Mobile said their networks remained stable, although some users experienced difficulty connecting with people on Verizon.
Service gradually returned later in the day, and Verizon said affected customers may qualify for service credits.
Affected Areas Snapshot
| Region | Service Impact |
| Northeast | Signal loss, SOS mode |
| Mid Atlantic | Calls and data down |
| South | Intermittent connectivity |
| Midwest | Widespread outages |
