Wide-Scale Wireless Outage Affects 9-1-1 Services
On Tuesday, July 30, Verizon Wireless customers across Iowa, Ilinois and Wisconsin experienced an outage of services that included the ability to call 9-1-1. Per Verizon representatives, their network encountered a hardware issue that rendered services unavailable. “We are currently experiencing a network issue impacting wireless service for some customers in the Upper Midwest including the Rockford, IL, and Davenport, IA, metro areas. Our engineers and technicians have identified the hardware issue and are working to resolve it as quickly as possible. Affected customers can still make and receive calls by enabling wifi calling on their devices.”
PSAPs across the area published alternative phone numbers for citizens to call during the outage for those using Verizon wireless services. Landlines and other carriers were not affected at the time. In addition to calling services, pubic safety agencies experienced connection problems with their mobile dispatch terminals used to communicate with their 9-1-1 dispatchers via CAD systems.
Related Story: Verizon Wireless services restored after nationwide outages including the Quad Cities
Verizon Wireless restored services the same day within a couple of hours. In addition to the Quad-Cities area, the outages impacted Rockford, Chicago and Davenport Iowa as well as major cities like New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
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