Verizon Faces Widespread “SOS Mode” Outage, Service Begins to Stabilize | News Glare

August 31, 2025 (UTC) - Verizon Wireless experienced a significant network disruption beginning on Saturday, August 30, leaving thousands of customers across the United States unable to make calls, send texts, or access mobile data. Many users reported their iPhones and other devices displaying only an “SOS” or “SOS only” indicator, meaning emergency calls remained possible but standard service was unavailable.

The outage first manifested around midday Eastern Time, with calls to Downdetector spiking to more than 23,000 reports by mid-afternoon, concentrated in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, and the Bay Area. Verizon attributed the interruption to a “software issue impacting wireless service for some customers” and mobilized its engineering teams to diagnose and resolve the fault.

Verizon’s official support channels advised affected customers to:

Restart their devices and toggle Airplane Mode for at least 15 seconds
Enable Wi-Fi Calling where available
Monitor the carrier’s Check Network Status page for area-specific updates

By Saturday evening, Verizon announced on its social media account that service restoration was underway in most impacted regions, including New York City, Houston, Seattle, and the Bay Area. Downdetector reports indicated that network stability had returned for the majority of users by 7:30 p.m. PDT, though residual reports persisted into late night.

In a statement, Verizon emphasized that its engineers remained fully engaged in ensuring full service restoration and apologized for the inconvenience: “Our engineers are working quickly to identify and solve the issue. We appreciate your patience”. Customers who continued to experience connectivity problems beyond midnight totaled only a few hundred nationwide, suggesting that the carrier’s recovery efforts were largely successful.

What “SOS Mode” Means When devices display “SOS” or “SOS only,” they cannot connect to their provider’s network but can still dial emergency services such as 911 by roaming onto other carriers’ towers. According to Apple, “If you see SOS or ‘SOS only’ in the status bar, your device can still make emergency calls. If you see ‘No Service’ or ‘Searching,’ your device isn’t connected to a mobile network”.

This outage marks the second major Verizon network disruption in less than a year, following a similar service lapse in October 2024 that generated over 100,000 DownDetector reports. Industry observers note that recurring software-related outages highlight the importance of robust network redundancy and transparent customer communications during service emergencies.