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Verizon says major service outage is resolved, affected customers will get $20 credits
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Jan 15, 2026
Modified Jan 15, 2026
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Al Drago via Getty Images
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Jan 15, 2026
Modified Jan 15, 2026
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Verizon service is back for affected customers in the New York area after a widespread outage disrupted cellphones across the country for much of Wednesday, the company said.
Affected customers will receive account credits worth $20 each, according to Verizon. Any customers still experiencing connectivity issues should restart their devices to reconnect to the network, the company added.
“Today, we let many of our customers down and for that, we are truly sorry,” Verizon wrote in a post on social media Wednesday night. “They expect more from us.”
The company said eligible customers will receive a text message when the credit is available to be redeemed through the myVerizon app. Business customers will be contacted directly about the credits.
The outage was resolved before 10:30 p.m., according to the company. Tracking site Downdetector showed more than 175,000 Verizon customers nationwide had reported service issues at the outage’s peak, including more than 10,000 in New York City.
New York City’s Emergency Management agency said Wednesday evening that officials were not seeing any major effects to essential services in the city as a result of the outage. Officials encouraged affected Verizon customers to find other carriers or landlines to place emergency calls during the disruption, or go to police and fire stations to report emergencies.
Emergency Management said there were no confirmed impacts to other carriers, including T-Mobile and AT&T, as of around 9 p.m. Wednesday. The agency also said people could use the city's LinkNYC kiosks to make free calls, get online or dial 911.
Following the outage, New York state Assemblymember Anil Beephan Jr. of Dutchess County urged the Federal Communications Commission to investigate what he called “ongoing and repeated” Verizon service disruptions in his district and surrounding areas. In a letter to the commission’s chair Wednesday, he wrote that the outages have had “an unacceptable impact on public safety, including disruptions to reliable access to emergency communications and critical response systems,” and have significantly inconvenienced residents and businesses.
The FCC said on social media Wednesday evening it was monitoring the outage, but did not comment further. The commission did not immediately respond early Thursday to an inquiry about Beephan’s request.
This story has been updated with additional information.
Tagged
economy
new york city
new york state
public safety
telecommunications
verizon
Brittany Kriegstein
Brittany Kriegstein covers all breaking news around New York City, with a focus on crime and gun violence. Got a tip? Email Brittany at [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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