The Verizon outage that disrupted service across the United States has been confirmed as a software-related failure. Verizon said the incident was not caused by a cybersecurity breach and that there is no evidence of malicious activity.
The outage occurred earlier this week and triggered widespread service disruptions. Millions of customers reported issues, prompting concern from regulators and emergency response officials.
Verizon outage details confirmed by the company
Company confirmed that internal software problems caused the nationwide outage. In a statement provided to media outlets, the company said engineers are conducting a full internal review to determine what went wrong.
Verizon emphasized that there is currently no indication of a cybersecurity incident. The company said the problem originated from its systems and not from an external attack.
The outage affected voice, data, and text services in multiple states. Customers reported losing connectivity for hours, with some unable to place calls or access mobile data.
During the disruption, the Federal Communications Commission acknowledged the situation. Officials said they were monitoring reports that emergency calling services could have been affected in certain areas.
Verizon did not initially disclose the cause while service restoration efforts were underway. The company said its priority at the time was stabilizing the network and bringing customers back online as quickly as possible.
According to reporting by Reuters and AP, large-scale outages linked to software configuration errors are rare but not unprecedented. Similar incidents in the telecom industry have previously raised concerns about network resilience.
Customer response and regulatory attention
The scale of the Verizon outage led to widespread speculation online. Some users questioned whether the disruption was linked to hacking or infrastructure sabotage.
Verizon later addressed those concerns directly. The company stated that the failure was internal and not connected to any cyber threat.
The morning after service was restored, Verizon issued a public apology. The company announced a $20 credit for customers impacted by the outage.
Regulators are expected to seek additional details once Verizon completes its review. The FCC has the authority to examine whether network reliability standards were met during the incident.
Industry analysts say the event underscores the complexity of modern telecom systems. Large carriers rely on automated software across vast networks, where a single failure can cascade rapidly.
The Verizon outage has now been formally attributed to a software issue. The company says it is reviewing safeguards to prevent a similar failure in the future.
References
Mashable. (2026). Verizon outage cause revealed, company confirms it wasn’t a cybersecurity threat. January 15, 2026.
Reuters. (2026). Verizon says nationwide service outage was caused by software issue. January 15, 2026.