(This story was updated to add new information.)
Verizon customers in metro Detroit reported service issues Monday morning, part of a larger, nationwide connectivity problem that the wireless company said started at about 9 a.m., and it was attempting to fix, which could be a problem for Lions fans with tickets to the Seahawks game.
"Some Verizon wireless customers may be experiencing connectivity issues," the company said in its email to the Free Press. "Our engineering teams are working diligently on the issue. We will provide additional updates as they become available."
Some customers said they were unable to make or receive calls but could send text messages.
By about 5 p.m., the phone company announced on social media its "engineers are making progress on our network issue and service has started to be restored," and apologized "for any inconvenience some of our customers experienced today."
But to be safe, Ford Field, where the NFL game will be held, urged fans on social media to access their electronic tickets by Wi-Fi before arriving, and downloading them into their phone's mobile wallet to help provide "the most seamless entry" into the stadium.
Verizon, which calls itself as one of the largest wireless networks in the United States, has not identified what caused the outage, how many were affected or give an estimated time when service would be fully restored to all customers.
What is SOS status?
But Downdetector , a website that tracks outages, showed customers reporting outages at about that time, and by about 11 a.m., the number of customers spiked to more than 100,000, although that number had been tapering off, and by 5 p.m. was getting close to 20,000.
Moreover, the Federal Communications Commission , the agency that regulates wireless companies, said on social media it was "aware of a Verizon outage impacting customers in parts of the country," and "working to determine the cause and extent of these service disruptions."
Many affected phones have been showing " SOS only " in the phone status bar or an SOS icon, which means the phone isn't connected to a cellular network, but, as a safety feature in the United States and Canada, can still make emergency calls.
SOS, which is now short for emergency, stood for "save our souls" or "save our ship," in the days of Morse Code.
The Downdetector site also indicated customers of other carriers, including AT&T, T-Mobile and US Cellular, also reporting service outages at about the same time, but in much smaller numbers.
Search trends showed many checking Google to try to find answers why their service was out.
Verizon outage maps
Still, the service problem appeared to be limited to some — but not all — customers in Michigan.
Some speculated the outage mostly affected newer phones.
In addition to how many customers were reporting issues, Downdetector also offered maps showing where the reports were coming from. Verizon's outages, the site said, were throughout the Midwest — including Chicago, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Omaha, Nebraska.
Other major cities with connection problems included Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Phoenix.
Verizon also offered its own outage map .
In order to check on Verizon's outages , the company said its customers must be logged into the website, but users should be able find troubleshooting information, report problems and get a ticket number and estimated time of repair completion.
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Verizon outage affecting users in Michigan, across US: What the company is saying
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