Verizon just had a big outage. Here's what we know
Verizon says a software problem caused the glitch and it is conducting a postmortem, but experts say outages are "a fact of life" these days.
www.npr.orgHere are the latest verified updates on Verizon outage events in January 2026, based on recent reporting:
- Verizon outage resolved after widespread service disruptions across the U.S. began around noon ET on January 13, 2026. The company attributed the issue to a software-related problem and said it was working to restore connectivity, with a full resolution announced later that day and follow-up guidance issued to customers.[3][4][8]
- Verizon apologized for the disruption and indicated that customers affected would receive account credits as part of “making this right” once service was restored.[2][8]
- Impact and recovery details: Downdetector and multiple outlets reported tens to hundreds of thousands of reports at peak (roughly around 1 PM ET), with service gradually returning throughout the afternoon and evening; some users were advised to restart devices to reconnect after restoration.[4][6][7]
- Context and explanations: Verizon publicly indicated a software issue as the root cause and noted that a postmortem would follow; observers highlighted that outages remain a possible reality despite ongoing resilience efforts in networks.[1][10]
If you’d like, I can pull the latest local impact for São Paulo or Brazil-specific user experiences, or summarize official Verizon guidance for customers (credits, remediation steps, and timelines) in a concise checklist.
Citations:
- Verizon outage updates and resolution timeline[8][3][4]
- Credits and customer remediation statements[2][8]
- Peak impact and restoration details (Downdetector references)[6][7][4]
- Root cause and postmortem context[10][1]