Nationwide outage affects AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile customers. What to know in KY

A cellular service outage affecting multiple carriers and tens of thousands of customers across the country, including those of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, hasn’t spared Lexington, with local customers reporting service outages.

Of the three carriers, local AT&T customers seemed to be the most affected, according to online tracker Downdetector, with reports peaking at 8:09 a.m. Thursday. At that time, more than 400 Lexington-area AT&T customers reported outages. The website also showed T-Mobile and Verizon customers were also affected by the outage.

The local issues come amid reports of cellular service outages across the country, with Downdector reporting more than 73,000 AT&T service disruptions Thursday morning.

In a statement to CNN early Thursday morning, AT&T acknowledged the widespread outage but did not provide a reason for the failure.

“Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. We are working urgently to restore service to them,” AT&T told CNN in the statement. “We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”

By late morning, AT&T told CNN most of its network was back online: “Our network teams took immediate action and so far three-quarters of our network has been restored. We are working as quickly as possible to restore service to remaining customers.”

In a post on its X account, formerly Twitter, AT&T said it was continuing to restore service.

In an email, Lexington Emergency Management spokesperson Emily Fay told the Herald-Leader late Thursday morning the outages seemed to be limited to individuals and not emergency management as a whole.

“E911 saw no impact in their call volume due to the outages. Additionally, their services and equipment were not impacted by the outages,” Fay told the Herald-Leader, in part, in a statement.

“If people are concerned about how to reach 911 without cell service, there are a few options. Most smartphones can switch to Wi-Fi calling mode and make calls that way. Additionally, 911 can be reached through text-to-911 by entering ‘911’ in the ‘To’ field. The service outage does not impact landline phones. If you do not have a landline, check with a neighbor who might. If there are no other avenues, you can always flag down a first responder or go to your nearest fire station. Those without service are urged to contact their cell providers. Updates are posted online by individual companies on social media or websites.”

Reached Thursday morning, a Lexington Police Department spokesperson said residents should either use the city’s e-911 line at 859-280-8200 or a landline, as those don’t seem to be affected.

LPD spokesperson Sgt. R. Guy Miller shared a statement from the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security when reached via email Thursday morning.

“Around 5 a.m. Eastern Time this morning, KOHS was made aware of cellular service issues in Kentucky. We have since learned that this is a nationwide issue, with cellular phone service outages being reported across the country. It is important to note that while outages have been reported in several areas of the US, the country is not experiencing a system wide failure.

“The problem is being reported across all three major carriers, with AT&T experiencing most of the issues,” the statement continued. “This may impact your ability to reach 9-1-1. In the event of an emergency, if you are unable to reach 9-1-1, please use a landline as those services don’t seem to be impacted. KOHS has received reports as of 7:00 a.m. that AT&T service is being restored.”

The extent of the service outage across Kentucky wasn’t immediately clear Thursday morning.