Monday, April 29, 2024
Update:
A nationwide cell service outage was affecting many AT&T customers this morning as they were unable to send text messages or make phone calls.
While some Hood County residents were awoken early this morning to an emergency phone call from the Hood County Sheriff’s Office notifying them of the outage, many were left in the dark and shaking their heads, as they wondered to themselves if they paid their phone bill on time.
The HCSO made a post on its Facebook page this morning at 6:24 a.m. to alert residents that AT&T’s service is down nationwide and is preventing customers from being able to make cell phone calls — including to 911.
“We have received 911 calls from AT&T landline, so AT&T landline calls to 911 may still work,” the post reads. “This issue is also preventing us at the Sheriff’s Office from receiving non-emergency calls.”
While phone service isn’t available for residents who are out and about in the community, those who are connected to WiFi may still be able to send and receive messages and make some phone calls using their phone’s Wi-Fi calling capability.
“If you are on WiFi, you may still be able to communicate with another AT&T user via text, however you still will NOT be able to call 911 or call our non-emergency numbers,” the HCSO’s post reads. “AT&T is working on the issue, but it is unknown how long it will be down. All other service providers seem to be working as they should at this time.”
Although there were some customer reports that the outage was also affecting Verizon and T-Mobile, NBC News reports that those companies have said that those affected were trying to contact AT&T users at the time.
According to downdetector.com, reports of the AT&T outage started pouring in at about 3:30 this morning, as report counts reached a peak of 74,200 at 8:13 a.m.
The most reported locations were in Houston, Chicago, Dallas, San Antonio, New York City, Atlanta, Austin, Miami, and Indianapolis.
Mobile phones were the most reported problem at 51%, followed by no signal at 41% and mobile internet at 8%.
"We have been affected by this with the office phones so that compounds the problem,” Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds told the HCN. “Texting to 911 was having problems.”
The HCSO is urging those with emergencies and AT&T cell service to attempt to call 911 but said they may need to call 911 from another provider’s phone or landline if the call does not go through. The HCSO’s Facebook post also stated that the office is trying to come up with a local solution until the nationwide problem can be resolved.
“We are trying to find work arounds and get patrol deputies out to be flagged down to be able to help and answer questions,” Deeds said. “I hope AT&T works fast to fix it.”
If any Hood County resident has a non-emergency problem, they are encouraged to visit the HCSO to make a report in person.
Although the outage is affecting many businesses and individuals in the community, the Granbury Police Department and the city of Granbury have not been affected.
"We are up and running and aren’t having any issues,” Chief Mitch Galvan told the HCN.
“City business operations have not been affected by the AT&T outage,” City Communications Manager Jeff Newpher said.
At this time, it is unclear when AT&T’s service will be restored. However, a message on AT&T’s website states that the cell phone company is aware that customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning.
“We are working urgently to restore service to (customers). We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored,” AT&T’s message reads.
This is a developing story, and the Hood County News will continue to update as more information becomes available.
