Understanding the Recent AT&T Cellular Outage: Causes, Impact, and Potential Investigations
In the early hours of Thursday morning, more than 70,000 AT&T cellular customers reported being unable to connect to service. The outage, which also seemed to affect customers of other carriers, raised concerns about emergency communication and the reliability of cellular networks. As the situation unfolded, experts weighed in on the potential causes of the outage and the likelihood of regulatory investigations.
The Outage
The outage, which began around 4 am Eastern time, led to a surge in outage reports on service monitoring site Downdetector. Customers across the country, including emergency services in cities like Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina, expressed worries about the inability to make 911 calls during the disruption. AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile acknowledged the issue and assured customers that they were working to restore service as quickly as possible.
Potential Causes
While the source of the outage was not disclosed by AT&T, industry sources and telecom experts speculated about possible causes. One theory suggested that the issue might be related to how cellular services hand off calls from one network to another, a process known as peering. Additionally, experts mentioned common causes of outages, such as construction-related damage to infrastructure and software misconfigurations. Some even pointed to the possibility of human errors in AT&T’s cloud-based networking system as a potential factor.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are assisting with the Federal Communication Commission’s investigation into the cause of the outage, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, according to NBC. Kirby said the outage’s cause remains unknown.
Solar Flares
On Thursday (Feb. 22), widespread cellphone outages were reported across the United States following two powerful solar flares that erupted from the sun. The first, an X1.8-class flare, occurred on Wednesday evening, followed by an X1.7 class flare early Thursday morning. Despite no observed coronal mass ejections (CMEs) resulting from these events, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued an alert for a solar radio emission that could potentially lead to solar radiation storms. NOAA noted that the region of the sun responsible for the flares continues to show strong magnetic complexity.
Regulatory Response
Given the scale and impact of the outage, experts anticipated that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would launch an investigation into the incident. The FCC requires carriers to report information related to network disruptions and has the authority to take action if it finds evidence of malfeasance or poor oversight. The former FCC official emphasized that telecom carriers have strong incentives to resolve outages promptly to maintain their brand reputation.
Conclusion
While Thursday’s AT&T cellular outage caused significant inconvenience for tens of thousands of customers, it also highlighted the complex nature of modern telecom networks and the potential vulnerabilities they face. As regulatory authorities prepare to investigate the incident, both consumers and industry stakeholders will be keen to understand the root causes of the outage and any lessons that can be learned to prevent similar disruptions in the future.
4 comments
This article is relevant to the CPUC meeting today about AT&T requesting to give up its responsibility as Carrier of Last Resort, which means it no longer wants to maintain land lines so folks have the ability to communicate, including during emergencies. Here is my statement:
Dear CPUC, I urge you to deny AT&T’s request to relinquish their responsibility as the COLR. In accordance with the CPUC’s own rules, AT&T must demonstrate that another ETC provider can provide universal support in the areas where AT&T wishes to surrender its ETC designation. However, I called them all and for my area the designated ETCs in the AT&T document are unable to provide adequate alternative services. My attempts to set up alternate service with these providers have been unsuccessful. All options presented significant limitations or obstacles to providing alternative services.
Additionally, I am concerned about the potential privacy and health implications of advanced technologies such as 5G, as well as AT&T’s history of cooperation with government surveillance efforts. It is essential to be aware that an advanced technology can have multiple different uses. For example, communications emissions have been used to accurately detect body poses of people within buildings. Google “Dense Pose” if you doubt this.
Finally, there was a massive wireless outage today, leaving over 70,000 AT&T cellular customers connectionless, a cosmic coincidence which demonstrates that wireless is NOT a valid replacement for wired landlines which are a life line for many people in rural areas.
I urge the CPUC to prioritize the well-being and privacy of California residents by carefully considering the implications of AT&T’s request. Please hold AT&T accountable for meeting its obligations as the COLR. Thank you.
Great. Thanks for covering this, Cosmo. Here’s the link to your article:
https://newsi8.com/public-message-to-att-california-at-cpuc-meeting-is-clear-maintain-our-landlines/
I agree that AT&T should not be allowed to skip out on being the Carrier of Last Resort without not only naming *possible* alternatives, but I think they must legally provide a verified capable alternative.
I was at this meeting in Ukiah today. People were overwhelmingly unconvinced about AT&Ts assurances that no one would be left without service. They gave people only 2 minutes each and had over 100 people on the list for the first of two public comment sessions.