Verizon outage explained: What happened, who was affected, refunds

Verizon representatives have confirmed that the service has been restored completely. The nationwide outage occurred on Wednesday, January 14, disrupting service across the U.S. for millions of consumers.

What Happened?

The outage lasted for nearly 10 hours, crippling the communication across major U.S. cities including New York City, Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, and parts of Florida. Customers reported that signals were lost suddenly and their smartphones were switched to SOS mode.

Company representatives categorized the disruption as having a “very high” impact, though it has not yet released detailed technical information on what e exactly caused the disruption.

Verizon provided time to time updated on their social media, assuring customers that engineers were working around the clock to restore service.

Who was affected?

Around 1.5 million customers were impacted across the U.S. Both individual customers and businesses experienced interrupted communication with many users unable to contact family members, workplaces, or other essential services. Phones, text messages, and cellular data were not accessible to consumers.

Verizon has suffered its second major outage in less than a year following a similar outage in August 2025.

Will customers get refunds?

Verizon has confirmed that the company will provide complete account credits to customers affected by the outage. The official statement stated, “For those affected, we will provide account credits. Details will be shared directly with customers.” 

The company further added that customers don’t need to contact the support center as credits will be given automatically where applicable.

Customers who are still experiencing the issues are advised to restart their device or check the network status page for more updates.