Verizon Nationwide Outage Causes SOS Mode on Phones, Company Offers Credits

On January 14, Verizon experienced a nationwide wireless outage affecting over 1.5 million users across major US cities, with phones displaying 'SOS' mode indicating loss of regular cellular service but allowing emergency calls. The disruption impacted voice, text, and data services for nearly 10 hours. Verizon acknowledged the issue, deployed engineering teams, apologized, and offered a 20 account credit to affected customers. While some minor issues were reported by other carriers, Verizon's network was primarily affected. The company has not disclosed the exact cause but denied cyberattack claims. Emergency services in cities like New York advised using alternative methods to contact 911 during the outage.