What Happened With The Nationwide Verizon Outage?

Just before noon today I decided to head out to meet some friends for lunch. Simple plan. I hopped in the truck, got to the spot, looked around and realized I had no idea where they were. No problem, I thought. I would just call them. Except my phone had other plans. Call failed. Again. And again. Then I noticed the tiny SOS icon sitting in the corner of my screen like a bad omen.

Getty Images

I turned the phone off and back on. Nothing. Still no service. During my very analog wait, my friends finally showed up and confirmed it was not just me. Their Verizon phones were dead too. At that point, the question became less about lunch and more about how half the country suddenly time-traveled back to 1990.

Once I managed to get on WiFi, the answers started rolling in. This was not just a Bozeman issue. This was nationwide. Verizon customers across the country were reporting outages, with problems starting around midday. Some users were unable to make calls, send texts or access data.

Getty Images

According to outage tracking reports, hundreds of thousands of customers were impacted at the peak. Major metro areas like New York City, Atlanta, Charlotte and Houston saw the highest number of complaints. Verizon acknowledged the problem, saying engineers were working to identify and fix the issue, but did not give a clear timeline. They also apologized, which is corporate speak for “we know this is bad and we are stressed too.”

Officials later stated there was no evidence pointing to a cyberattack, which did very little to stop the internet from immediately putting on its tin foil hat. Social media did what social media does best and went full detective mode. Some people pointed to recent layoffs at Verizon and claimed jobs were replaced by AI. Others went straight to the geopolitical conspiracy corner of the internet. No final explanation has been confirmed yet.

Get our free mobile app

What we do know is this. Our dependence on cell service is real, and when it disappears, even briefly, everything feels slightly unhinged. Lunch did eventually happen, by the way.

The 5 Cities With The Most Gang Activity In Montana

When you think of Montana, you might think of Cowboys and Indians, but you probably don't think about gangs. Well, according to one source, not only is gang activity on the rise in Big Sky Country, but many cities are seeing an increase in gangs in general.

City.Fact released data revealing the Montana towns with the most gangs, and we highlight the Top 5 below.

Gallery Credit: Derek Wolf

The Best "Old School" Diners In Montana

For those who love a walk down memory lane, Montana has more than a couple of "Old School" diners that have been serving locals and visitors across The Treasure State for decades. We take a look at the very best.

Gallery Credit: Derek Wolf

Montana's Top 5 Largest Private Land Owners

One of the hot topics here in Big Sky Country is the selling of property. Over the last couple of decades, wealthy individuals and companies have come to Montana and purchased millions of acres of land. This has caused panic among many residents of the state, especially when it comes to access to public lands.

Here's a look at the Top 5 largest private land owners in Montana according to AZ Animals

Gallery Credit: Derek Wolf

Categories: Article