Sometime in the middle of the night Verizon’s data network seems to have crashed. The first report hit Verizon’s support forum from San Francisco around midnight, Pacific time. Since then the thread has come alive with reports from all over the country. Users are reporting no 4G coverage and 3G coverage that was spotty at best. The most recent report on the forum was made about an hour ago from Illinois and reports no data connection.
The company has been making a minimal effort at damage control via their customer support Twitter feed this morning, but have remained quiet on the details. No comment has been made either on the outage itself or on when Verizon customers can expect the problem to be resolved.
I have sent Verizon a request for comment which has yet to be answered. The Verge, however, is reporting that they did manage to speak to a Verizon spokesperson who only acknowledged the outage without giving any further information.
As one might expect, Twitter has been abuzz with complaints about the outage:
@VZWSupport Data service does not seem to be working in San Antonio, TX. 78230 zip code. No 3G or 4G on my HTC Thunderbolt.
@VZWSupport why don’t I have data?
@VZWSupport I’m having consistent LTE outage and spotty 3G since at least 2am. #FlintMI Any update on when this will be fixed?
@VZWSupport, Why don’t you come out with a public acknowledgment that there is a connection issue and some ETA?
@VZWSupport: Need a little assistance with your new Galaxy Nexus? Try this http://t.co/X0hb1Ltq
No. reliable 4g & better radio works… RTMeanwhile, either someone at Verizon Support has a sense of humor, or they haven’t been paying attention. Just a few minutes ago they responded to this tweet…
@VZWSupport what is going on I can’t call, text or email???? this is the 2nd time in two weeks
With the following:
@DarkKnight1911 Oh no! May I ask what zip code you are in? Did you power the phone off/on and try again? Are others having issues? ^TH
The timing of the outage is particularly problematic for Verizon, who have been pushing their 4G network heavily in holiday shopping ads for their phones.