Verizon Outage: Users Report Wireless Downtime For Third Time This December (UPDATE)

UPDATE 2: On Thursday morning, a Verizon rep contacted The Huffington Post to say that issues with the 4G LTE network had been resolved overnight.

UPDATE 1: TechCrunch reports that Verizon has issued the following statement:

We are investigating reports of some customers experiencing trouble accessing the 4GLTE network. The network itself continues to operate and all customers continue to be able to make calls, send text messages and utilize data services. 3G devices are operating normally.

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PREVIOUSLY: On Wednesday, some Verizon Wireless customers around the United States reportedly experienced the third network outage this month.

Not all subscribers took note of the blackout, however. The outage apparently affected mostly 4G LTE users, although Engadget reports that a few CDMA users were also hit with network downtime.

Reports of the blackout came from all over the States on Wednesday afternoon. According to the Verge, users in Chicago and New York City may have been affected, while TechCrunch points out that the Verizon user forums were awash with complaints from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Oregon, California, Arizona and elsewhere across North America.

Verizon Wireless hasn't issued an official statement from its @VZWSupport Twitter feed, though it does appear to be fielding tweeters' questions related to customer service issues.

The most recent countrywide outage, which occurred on December 21, was preceded by a separate outage on December 7.

In August, J.D. Power & Associates awarded Verizon its highest rating for the best overall network performance. Then, in December, a Consumer Reports survey named Verizon Wireless the network with the highest customer satisfaction.

A Verizon rep could not immediately comment on the situation.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[MBroward]

10:14 AM on 01/19/2012

Verizon outage again in downtown Manhattan (Financial District, New York City). There is no 4G connectivity whatsoever. This report is current as of 19-Jan-2012_10.13.49.AM Eastern Time

[stargazer13]

10:55 AM on 12/30/2011

N.W.Colorado California Atlanta have no service

but yet the net work is up and running

hummmmmm?

[stargazer13]

10:49 AM on 12/30/2011

yeah well ?

I am still waiting ! so if 4-G is up and running then why is my phone still not working

oooh that,s right I live where it is still down they say ??

[middleagerage]

10:03 AM on 12/30/2011

The easiest thing to do to combat this is go Prepaid. Limited selection of phones but you'll save a good amount of money and avoid these fees.

[Thomas DuGan]

09:39 PM on 12/29/2011

CORPORATION GREED: Verison is going to charge $2.00 -a so-called maintenance fee- for online payment. Another way to rob people, customers, of their money. I am against Corporations that create their so-called policy's and project them as though they are law. Those representing our government do nothing to protect people. Simply put; go ahead and get all the money you can steal from people. Isn't this what, OWS, is about?? Go to facebook.com/Thomas KipleyDuGan President for Peoples Party 2012.

[Bigrcube]

12:59 PM on 12/29/2011

Is Verizon being hacked by the Chinese?!

[Joan Wills Grover]

12:26 PM on 12/29/2011

I would also like compensation for the time I could not use my computers. I tried everything and nothing worked. I spent hours and got very frustrated! How do we get compensation from Verizon..spend more hours on the phone?

[cliff2000]

07:46 AM on 12/29/2011

This outage affected Atlanta as well.

[mairs]

12:37 AM on 12/29/2011

I was just reading that intense sunspot activity is supposed to disrupt electronics from now through the end of December. Is that what is going on? The article mentioned that cell phone service could go down because of it. Anyone know anything about this?

[Stan Merrell]

11:29 PM on 12/28/2011

One of the reasons I ditched the Android phones (after 4 Thunderbolts, 2 LG Revolutions and 1 Droid Razr) and switched to the iPhone 4s was the fact that, frankly, I was sick of paying a premium to be a beta tester. The first generation LTE chips in HTC's Thunderbolt and LG's Revolution are horrible and, as slick as the phone was, the Motorola Razr is a flawed, buggy device.

The 4G LTE platform is NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME. When the technology is solid, Apple will come out with a 4G LTE phone. I am extremely happy with the iPhone 4s and don't mind a whit that it is CDMA.

Thank you Verizon Customer service in helping me get out of phone hades!

[RemoveTheGreedyOnes]

09:56 AM on 12/29/2011

You'll be back. I moved from at&t iPhone to Verizon android. I'll never go back. Outage is one thing. Constantly dropping calls and no 3G service except in metropolitan areas is totally another.

[ken saunders]

09:45 PM on 12/28/2011

verizon does not have the best customer service and does not have the best overall network...im curious to know who they paid off in order to get those ratings...

[AJH1993]

11:18 PM on 12/28/2011

Verizon does in fact have a strong network.

[ken saunders]

11:43 PM on 12/29/2011

I have had verizon for almost 7 years now, and am currently on verizon. I live in DC, and have every and I mean every cellphone company out. Verizon has ok service, but it is NOT worth the money..Trust me sweethearts!!

[mairs]

12:33 AM on 12/29/2011

They sure beat AT&T.

[baldy54]

07:52 AM on 12/29/2011

two tin cans with a string beats AT&T!!!!!

[baldy54]

07:55 AM on 12/29/2011

two tin cans with a string trumps ATT!!!!!

[noverizonfan]

09:38 PM on 12/28/2011

I have been an almost arrogant fan and user of Verizon networks. I have been affected by all of these outages and, this last one came at an extremely innopportune time, i.e. business was affected. I will now say to most: One Should Doubt Verizon. I am on MTRLA RAZR. If this occurs again...I will reconsider another subpar carrier as Verizon has fallen into that class.

[Stan Merrell]

11:33 PM on 12/28/2011

I had a Motorola Razr and, as slick as it was, I experienced some serious issues with it's reliability.

[talos72]

09:10 PM on 12/28/2011

Update: complete outage for me in Califronia...no 3G or 4G. Thanks Verizon!

[Qantumreflection]

08:26 PM on 12/29/2011

The one thing not being reported is that the 4G LTE phones are not backward compatible. Meaning the outage meant no net access.

At least tmobile has wifi calling for free. And their 4G network is not only the largest, but also fastest. I speed tested the new Verizon razor versus tmobile amaze ... The razor clocked in at 3.2 Mbps, the amaze smoked at 19.2 Mbps. And the samsung galaxy 2S regularly does better than the amaze.

[Lonnie DeVorak]

08:48 PM on 12/28/2011

And you wonder why I dumped Verizon years ago......

[MBroward]

08:50 PM on 12/28/2011

Can't blame ya.

[MBroward]

08:44 PM on 12/28/2011

If you read my post earlier, you'd know that I have been working in Manhattan's Financial District during the outage. 4G service has been largely unavailable for at least 6 hours now (intermittent connectivity to the network, but immediate disconnects). Our Netgrappler equipment helped, so we were able to have a "plan B" ready. However, 3G service is STILL spotty at the moment. Such is the situation as of 8:40 PM Eastern Time in downtown New York City!

[investmentbanker1]

11:10 AM on 12/29/2011

What is this Netgrappler?

[MBroward]

08:16 PM on 12/29/2011

Netgrappler is a network appliance in our data center. Netgrappler monitors our global network and alerts our IT staff of potential problems automatically. The ROI has been very good. Here is more information about it: http://netgrappler.com/product-features/network-analytics-and-prediction/