AT&T says service restored to all customers

AT&T outage interrupts more than phone service

The AT&T nationwide outage which impacted cell service also impacted drivers who use cell phone data to get from point A to point B.

3:20 P.M. UPDATE: AT&T says they have restored service to all of their customers.

"We have restored wireless service to all our affected customers. We sincerely apologize to them. Keeping our customers connected remains our top priority, and we are taking steps to ensure our customers do not experience this again in the future."

2 P.M. UPDATE: As of 2 p.m. ET, there appears to be less than 7,000 reports of cellular outages. At this time, no official reason has been given for the outage. AT&T has experienced sporadic outages over the past few days, including a temporary 911 outage that impacted Atlanta on Feb. 20.

Verizon has also confirmed that their network is operating normally. They sent the following statement:

Verizon's network is operating normally. Some customers experienced issues this morning when calling or texting with customers served by another carrier. We are continuing to monitor the situation.

Atlanta impacted by cellular outage

Atlanta residents were impacted by a massive cellular outage on Thursday. AT&T customers were hit the hardest.

ORIGINAL STORY

Cellular phone service is currently down for thousands of customers across the nation. Although it appears the problem originated with AT&T, other providers, including Verizon, T-Mobile and Cricket, are being impacted, according to DownDetector.com. But that could be because customers of other carriers are having issues reaching those with AT&T service.

As of 11 a.m. ET, more than 71,000 outage reports have been received. The outages have impacted many major cities, including Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, and Philadelphia. The problems began around 3:30 a.m. Thursday.

AT&T sent the following statement at 11:33 a.m. ET:

Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. Our network teams took immediate action and so far, three-quarters of our network has been restored. We are working as quickly as possible to restore service to remaining customers.

The most important thing to know in Atlanta right now is that if you need help from the police or fire department, you can still get it.

According to Atlanta's E-911 Communications Division, they are able to receive inbound 911 calls and make outbound calls.

However, the issue is impacting E-911's ability to receive inbound non-emergency calls made to 404-658-6666 or 311.

Other options for reporting emergencies to 911 include sending a text to 911 or going to their online portal.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens issued a statement about the outage on X, formerly known as Twitter:

Cobb County Police Department posted earlier today that their 911 center is still operational. They promised to post updates as need.

Forsyth County and Marietta Police Department also posted on social media that their 911 center remains operational.

Additionally, the Kennesaw-Acworth 911 center and Floyd County 911 are operational.

In general, it is safe to assume that all 911 centers are operational in the state. At this time, FOX 5 has not received any reports of 911 centers being unable to receive emergency calls.

If you discover you are unable to make calls on your cellphone, the first thing to do is to check to see if you can access a Wi-Fi network. To see if this is available, go to your smartphone's settings and search for the feature. You will need a password for whatever network you want to join.

How to turn on Wi-Fi calling on your iPhone

Click on "Settings"
Click "Cellular"
"Wi-Fi Calling"
Switch "Wi-Fi Calling on This iPhone" on
Click "Enable" Wi-Fi Calling"

How to turn on Wi-Fi calling on your Android phone

Click on Settings
Tap Calls
Tap Wi-Fi Calling

How to turn on Wi-Fi calling on your Samsung phone

Click the "Phone" icon
Tap the "More Options" (three vertical dots)
Tap "Settings"
Tap "Wi-Fi Calling" and then toggle the switch to the right to turn the feature on.

And, of course, landline phones are not impacted.