T-Mobile Resolves Phone Outages Across U.S. – Update

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UPDATED with issue resolved, explanation from CEO Wireless provider T-Mobile has resolved widespread phone outages that began mid-day Monday and lasted through the night.

In a post that appeared on the company’s website, CEO Mike Sievert said systems would need several more hours to be fully functional again.

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“This is an IP traffic related issue that has created significant capacity issues in the network core throughout the day,” he wrote. “Data services have been working throughout the day and customers have been using services like FaceTime, iMessage, Google Meet, Google Duo, Zoom, Skype and others to connect.”

Phone service was affected on the East Coast, including major cities like New York, Atlanta and Miami, as well as L.A. and Chicago, according to the tech-issue tracker DownDetector. Wi-Fi and land-line phone service saw some minor disruptions but those were not widespread.

At 1:03AM ET on Tuesday, T-Mobile added this update to Sievert’s report: “These issues are now resolved. We again apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience.”

On Monday afternoon, T-Mobile technology president Neville Ray tweeted that engineers were “working to resolve a voice and data issue that has been affecting customers around the country.” He added the company was hoping to have it fixed “shortly.”

Initially, DownDetector had indicated major problems across all major wireless networks, including AT&T and Verizon, but reps from both companies told Deadline they had not hit any snags. Because DownDetector relies on customer reports, its first distress signals on Monday likely stemmed from faulty attribution. If a flurry of complaints are posted by customers about not having their calls connected to T-Mobile customers, that can create a negative report about all providers instead of just the one having the actual issue.

T-Mobile and Sprint closed their long-awaited $23 billion merger on April 1. Some of the assets jettisoned in the course of securing regulatory approval for that deal were acquired by Dish Network. Having accumulated wireless spectrum in recent years, Dish is pivoting from its declining satellite TV business, though it will start out as the No. 4 wireless player and few analysts expect it to gain market share in the early going.

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