Verizon outage blamed on fiber issue, services returning to normal

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Verizon cellphone services were out of action across large areas of the United States Wednesday due to a reported fiber issue.

Some users reported cellphone calls ringing before hearing an error message when the other party tried to pick up. First reports of the service being down were received around 2:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday.

At around 4:15 p.m. CT, Verizon Support told one Fresno, California-area customer on Twitter they were “aware some customers … may be experiencing issues and our network teams are looking into this.”

In another tweet, Verizon Support noted there was “an issue impacting voice calls for some Verizon customers.”

“Our engineers are engaged, and we are working quickly to identify and solve the issue.”

According to Downdetector, issues with Verizon services weren’t just limited to the Fresno. The problems were reported most in cities like Los Angeles, Sacramento, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Seattle, as well as Denver and New York.

The outage also impacted some emergency crews. For example, a post on the Clovis Police Department’s Twitter page confirmed 911 services were still operating, but dispatch was unable to call back for 911 hangups from cellphones.

Shortly after 7 p.m. CT Wednesday, Verizon Support explained the outage was due to “a fiber issue.”

“The issue was identified and resolved and the majority of impacted customers should be seeing service as usual,” a support agent wrote. Customers still experiencing issues are encouraged to restart their device.