Verizon Wireless service is down in several markets

Verizon on Monday identified a widespread service outage affecting wireless customers in several major markets.

“We are aware of an issue affecting service for some customers,” the telecommunications company said in a statement. “Our engineers are committed and we are working quickly to identify and resolve the issue.”

Customers in cities including New York, Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix reported issues with Verizon on Monday. The devices reportedly displayed an “SOS” message, indicating that voice calls or text messages are not possible.

AT&T, meanwhile, confirmed that its network was operational, despite indications of a problem on the website Down Detector, which tracks service outages across the Internet.

“We are not experiencing a nationwide outage,” AT&T said in a statement posted to its social media accounts. “Our national network is functioning normally. Down Detector likely reflects the challenges our customers face when trying to connect to users on a different network.”

As of June 30, Verizon had 114.2 million wireless retail lines, including 92 million postpaid retail lines.

Customers flocked to social media to complain about the disruption. On X, formerly Twitter, Verizon was the No. 1 trending topic in the US at lunchtime.

The wireless sector made headlines throughout the day on Monday when EchoStar announced that it had sold its video subsidiary Dish Network to DirecTV. EchoStar has repositioned itself in recent years to gain a foothold in the wireless business, acquiring spectrum and assets from Sprint that it had to give up as part of its merger with T-Mobile.

MORE to come…