U.S. nationwide outage at Verizon Wireless 1-hour after $3.3 bln deal

Thousands of Verizon users experienced significant cellphone service outages across major U.S. cities on Monday morning, including Atlanta, Chicago, and New York. Downdetector reported over 104,000 outage cases by 11:30 a.m. Eastern, which later decreased to around 78,000 by noon. Many users saw their phones in “SOS” mode, rendering calls and texts impossible.

Verizon spokesman Ilya Hemlin acknowledged the service issues and assured that engineers were working on a solution. He, however, provided no information on the cause of the outages or possible links to local power failures. Users expressed frustration online, noting the impact on their jobs. Verizon has 114.2 million wireless subscribers in the U.S.

Exactly 1 hour before the nationwide outage Verizon Communications announced a $3.3 billion deal with Vertical Bridge. The agreement grants Vertical Bridge rights to lease and manage 6,339 mobile phone towers across the U.S. and D.C. Verizon will receive $2.8 billion upfront, with a lease-back arrangement for 10 years and an option to extend to 50 years.