Verizon customers dealt with service problems across parts of the country over the weekend, including a widespread voice-service disruption Saturday followed by a Southern California outage Sunday that the company said was caused by vandalized fiber cables.
The disruptions were separate incidents, and Verizon has not publicly indicated that they were connected.
Thousands report problems Saturday
The first outage began Saturday, Aug. 8, affecting voice service for Verizon wireless customers in several parts of the United States.
Reports on Downdetector began climbing shortly before 4 p.m. Eastern and peaked at more than 13,000. Customers reported problems in major cities including Chicago, Boston, New York and Washington, while reports also surfaced in other regions of the country.
Some customers could still access LTE or 5G data even though calls were failing.
The outage prompted public-safety concerns in some communities. The Saratoga County Sheriff's Office in New York, for example, advised residents about alternative ways to contact 911 while the disruption continued.
Verizon acknowledged that an issue was affecting voice service for some wireless customers and said engineers were working on a solution.
By about 7:30 p.m. Eastern, the company said the issue had been resolved and advised customers who were still experiencing problems to restart their devices. Verizon did not disclose a cause for Saturday's outage.
Another outage hits Southern California
Less than a day later, Verizon customers across Southern California began reporting another round of service interruptions.
This time, Verizon said multiple fiber cables had been cut by vandals, disrupting mobile and internet service for some customers. Some users reported phones displaying SOS mode and being unable to make calls or send text messages.
Reports cited problems in areas including Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Van Nuys and North Hollywood. Verizon said some customers began regaining service by Sunday evening, with service restored by about 7:30 p.m. Pacific.
The company said law enforcement was involved, but officials had not publicly identified exactly where the cables were cut or how many customers were affected.
Los Angeles police told CBS Los Angeles they had received reports of vandalism in the San Fernando Valley, but it remained unclear whether those reports were directly connected to the damaged Verizon infrastructure.
Verizon raises public-safety concerns
Verizon said damage to communications infrastructure can extend beyond inconveniencing customers because emergency personnel and public-safety agencies also depend on reliable connectivity.
The company characterized network theft and vandalism as a threat to community safety and said crews and outside vendors worked at the damaged sites to restore the Southern California network.
Service from both weekend incidents has since been restored.
Verizon has not announced whether customers affected by either disruption will receive billing credits or other compensation. The company also had not disclosed the cause of Saturday's broader voice-service outage as of Tuesday.