Why outages like Verizon’s are such a big deal

On a Wednesday morning, Tess Coward, a 27-year-old PR professional from New York City, awoke feeling unwell. However, she faced an additional challenge: a significant outage at Verizon left her unable to make calls or send text messages, preventing her from reaching her doctor or accessing the patient portal. Coward was among the many individuals impacted by this widespread disruption, which lasted several hours before being resolved just before 10:30 p.m. Eastern time. Verizon has not disclosed the specific cause of the outage but announced on Thursday that it would provide customers with a $20 credit as compensation. This incident highlights the fragility of communication infrastructure in the U.S., especially in light of recent major outages, such as the Amazon Web Services issue that affected vast parts of the internet in October and a nearly 24-hour AT&T outage earlier this year. Coward expressed her frustration, noting, "If I needed anything in that moment, I couldn’t get it." She revealed that the inability to receive verification codes for her healthcare provider intensified her anxiety. "I feel like people are feeling it emotionally a lot more than I think Verizon would care to notice," she added, reflecting a sentiment echoed by many on social media who shared their difficulties during the outage. The impact of such outages can be particularly acute for gig-economy workers who depend on consistent cell service for their livelihoods. New York City's Emergency Management agency was actively monitoring the situation, coordinating with utility providers to assess any implications for city services. While Verizon has not confirmed the number of users affected, Downdetector reported over 178,000 outage reports in just a 15-minute span at the height of the issue, with a total of around 1 million reports over the day. Industry expert Susan Welsh de Grimaldo noted that software issues could play a significant role in these disruptions. As networks increasingly rely on software, they become vulnerable to configuration changes and automated updates that can inadvertently lead to outages. Despite the inconvenience, Coward has not yet decided to switch carriers, although she acknowledged that another outage might prompt her to reconsider. "In today’s age, you rely so much on your phone without even realizing," she remarked, highlighting the pervasive role of mobile connectivity in modern life.