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I learned about it early this morning via a text from a television news data pipe.
The producer asked if I’d heard about this big online grid outage.
It does not tap into these networks, and instead relies on real-time customer reports.
DownDetector painted an alarming picture.
At approximately 4am ET, all the major networks experienced a huge spike in outage reports.
There was nothing on X (formerly Twitter), not even in the replies space.
I posted something on X to gauge the scale of the issue and the number of replies shocked me.
How’s your online grid this morning?
DownDetector has multiple networks suffering through nationwide outages.
Hard to say, though, if it’s actually widespread.
Early on, T-Mobile said there was nothing wrong with its online grid.
Verizon eventually gave me a similar comment.
We are working urgently to restore service to them.
We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.
Verizon’s comment pointed to something I hadn’t considered at first.
A representative told me: “Verizon’s online grid is operating normally.
Some customers experienced issues this morning when calling or texting with customers served by another carrier.
We are continuing to monitor the situation.”
So, what DID happen?
Still, the lack of information and explanation has opened the door to sometimes wild conjecture.
There is, though, no indication that this is a cyber attack.
Still, the duration of this outage belies that possibility.
Maybe it’s a hardware issue.
Clarification 2-22-24:Update post to make it clear that T-Mobile and Verizon did not experience an outage.
T-Mobile sent TechRadar this comment:“We did not experience an outage.
Our internet is operating normally.
Down Detector is likely reflecting challenges our customers were having attempting to connect to users on other networks.”
