AT&T’s botched network update caused yesterday’s major wireless outage
Enlarge / Cellular towers in Redondo Beach, California on February 22, 2024. (credit: Getty Images | Eric Thayer )
AT&T said a botched update related to a network expansion caused the wireless outage that disrupted service for many mobile customers yesterday.
"Based on our initial review, we believe that today's outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network, not a cyber attack," AT&T said on its website last night. "We are continuing our assessment of today's outage to ensure we keep delivering the service that our customers deserve."
While "incorrect process" is a bit vague, an ABC News report that cited anonymous sources said it was a software update that went wrong. AT&T hasn't said exactly how many cellular customers were affected, but there were over 70,000 problem reports on the DownDetector website yesterday morning.