AT&T Service Restored After Outage Affecting NC Customers

Customers in southeast North Carolina were experiencing a cell service interruption on Thursday morning, February 22, per a notification from AT&T .

A representative for AT&T stated that all impacted customers' wireless service has been restored on Thursday at 3:10 p.m.

The representative stated, “Keeping our customers connected remains our top priority, and we are taking steps to ensure our customers do not experience this again in the future."

Photo byJakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The following is the initial notification from AT&T:

“Valued Customer, This is an AT&T FCC PSAP Notification informing you of a Wireless and FirstNet outage. Customers cannot make or receive voice and data calls to and from mobile, including 911 calls. The preliminary cause is outside AT&T Network.”

Customers of Cricket Wireless, Verizon, T-Mobile, UScellular, Boost Mobile, Straight Talk, and Consumer Cellular also experienced outages, according to Downdetector.com.

When WECT contacted the dispatchers in Bladen, Pender, New Hanover, Columbus, and Brunswick counties, they were informed that although their services were running, locals were still having problems contacting 911.

“We have received some calls from AT&T customers that have come through flawlessly and we’ve been able to serve them. However, we have had some that have hit our system, we know somebody’s tried calling, but we haven’t been able to connect to them.” stated Hope Down, the director of 911 for New Hanover County.

According to Downs, it's critical that you are ready in case a comparable outage occurs again.

“It’s always good to have a backup communication plan,” Downs stated. “This is a perfect example. People day to day don’t think about the important of it until they need to reach 911, and then they’re kind of stuck or trying to find last-minute alternatives to be able to reach emergency services.”

Regarding those other choices, Downs says you might use the internet in place of mobile service.

“Backup communications plans that can be used in the meantime is you can text to 911. If you have connection to WiFi, you should still be able to call using WiFi calling. In addition, find an alternate carrier from somebody nearby or use a landline phone to be able to reach us if needed,” advised Downs.

Source:

https://www.wect.com/2024/02/22/cell-service-outage-affecting-southeastern-nc/