Verizon customers across the U.S. experienced a wireless network outage on Wednesday that disrupted calls, texts, and mobile data.
Reports of an outage began surfacing earlier Wednesday and spread quickly across multiple regions. Verizon acknowledged service disruptions and said restoration work was underway, but the company didn't shared a timeline beyond "work through the night."
Account credits will be provided to affected customers.
Today, we let many of our customers down and for that, we are truly sorry. They expect more from us.
— Verizon News (@VerizonNews) January 15, 2026
We are working non-stop and making progress. Our teams will continue to work through the night until service is restored for all impacted customers.
We will make this right -
By 11 p.m. ET, the outage map seemed to dwindle down to a few isolated reports on the United States east coast. Expect some problems to continue, but things may normalize by morning.
Verizon reports that the outage has been resolved.
How an outage affects iPhone features
On iPhone, "SOS" appears when the device cannot connect to its carrier but can still detect other networks for emergency calls. The indicator can cause confusion since it looks like a system error even though iOS is functioning as designed.
Beyond calls and mobile data, several Apple features depend on carrier services. SMS fallback for iMessage, Visual Voicemail, and some FaceTime Audio scenarios can fail when Verizon's network is unavailable.
Verizon customers across the U.S. are experiencing a wireless network outage
Two-factor authentication codes sent by text may also be delayed or undelivered, which affects Apple ID sign-ins and Apple Pay verification.
Wi-Fi-based services continue to work normally when an internet connection is available. Services like iMessage, FaceTime over Wi-Fi, and third-party messaging apps remain usable.
What's known, what isn't, and what comes next
The outage was carrier-side so Apple wasn't able resolve it through software updates or user troubleshooting. Restarting an iPhone or adjusting settings can't restore service.
Some users reported mixed behavior across Verizon-backed services, which raised questions about how different network layers were affected. Apple users with dual eSIM setups may have been able to switch to another carrier temporarily, depending on coverage and plan terms.
Verizon hasn't disclosed the root cause or the full scope of affected services. Service should be restored for most users.
Update January 14, 9:33 p.m.: Added Verizon's social media post about restoration efforts.
Update January 14, 11:10 p.m.: Down detector shows dwindling outage reports for Verizon, and the company says the outage has been resolved.
