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Many are asking, 'Why is my phone in SOS mode?'
There's a widespread Verizon outage today. Credit: T. Schneider / Shutterstock.com
A massive Verizon outage has caused widespread, nationwide connectivity issues for customers across the U.S.
Based on Google Trends, there's been an uptick of people searching for, "Why is my phone in SOS?" This captures the experience many Verizon users are reporting; many have claimed that their phones are now limited to SOS service.
Verizon Down: Widespread outage disrupts customers across U.S.
As of 12:00 p.m. ET, DownDetector (a site that shares the same parent company as Mashable) shows that there have been over 100,000 reports of Verizon outages. Fifty percent say that the issue involves their mobile phone, 35 percent say they're not getting any signals, and 14 percent say they're experiencing a total blackout.
DownDetector percentages regarding Verizon outage Credit: DownDetector
According to DownDetector's heat map, it appears that outages are concentrated in the states of New York, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, and North Carolina.
DownDetector map shows where the Verizon outage is concentrated Credit: DownDetector
A site that has been tracking the issue claims that outage reports began piling up at around 9:04 am ET.
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On X, users have been flooding Verizon Support, the company's official help page, regarding the issue.
"We are aware of an issue impacting service for some customers. Our engineers are engaged and we are working quickly to identify and solve the issue," Verizon said on X.
Phones stuck in SOS mode
Your phone being in SOS mode is an indication that your device cannot connect to a network, but it can reach certain personnel via satellite connectivity.
SOS mode is Apple's "Emergency SOS via Satellite" feature that lets users connect to satellites to reach emergency services in poor coverage areas.
Verizon has not yet acknowledged that there is a widespread outage. The company, according to CNN, has 114 million subscribers in the United States.
Check out our live updates page on the massive Verizon outage to keep an eye on any new details from the company.
This story is developing ...
Kimberly Gedeon, at Mashable since 2023, is a tech explorer who enjoys doing deep dives into the most popular gadgets, from the latest iPhones to the most immersive VR headsets. She's drawn to strange, avant-garde, bizarre tech, whether it's a 3D laptop, a gaming rig that can transform into a briefcase, or smart glasses that can capture video. Her journalism career kicked off about a decade ago at MadameNoire where she covered tech and business before landing as a tech editor at Laptop Mag in 2020.
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