In addition to the drop in cell service, several news outlets are reporting that 911 services have been experiencing outages over the same period. For instance, while San Francisco’s fire department says that its 911 center is still operational, a number of AT&T customers have reported that they can’t even make 911 calls. SFFD has suggested people try using a landline, or have a friend, neighbor, or relative call from a different network, should they find themselves in an emergency.
We are aware of an issue impacting AT&T wireless customers from making and receiving any phone calls (including to 911).
We are actively engaged and monitoring this.
The San Francisco 911 center is still operational.
If you are an AT&T customer and cannot get through to 911,… pic.twitter.com/TUIEBkqmkI
— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) February 22, 2024
If you have working WiFi, using your phone’s Wi-Fi calling feature may allow you to place calls without a working network service. If that doesn’t work, services like Google Voice can be used to place calls over Wi-Fi. If you just need to contact a friend or relative, then messaging services like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, or anything similar should also work, provided you have an internet connection.
Smaller networks, most of which use Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile’s service, also appear to be down. DownDetector suggests issues at Cricket Wireless, Boost Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Straight Talk, and Consumer Cellular.
DownDetector also shows a climb in outage reports, though this doesn’t necessarily mean the situation is getting worse. Since the outage started at around 3am, it’s more likely an increased number of people are waking up, noticing their cell service is down, and reporting it.
