Verizon Says Major Outage Caused by ‘Software Issue’

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2026 – Verizon’s major network outage last week was caused by a software issue, the company said Tuesday.

“This was a software issue and we are conducting a full review of what happened. As of now, there is no indication that this was a cyber security issue,” Verizon officials said in a statement.

Outage data aggregator Downdetector said in a post on X that it received more than 2.3 million user reports of Verizon’s mobile network being down on Jan. 14, the day of the outage.

Mashable first reported Verizon’s statement on the software glitch. A company spokesperson confirmed the report to Broadband Breakfast.

The outage was resolved late that night, according to Verizon. The carrier said Thursday that it was offering affected customers a $20 credit.

Also on Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission said it was “continuing to actively investigate and monitor the situation to determine next steps.”

Similar outages typically result in FCC investigations and fines.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, requested a briefing from both the FCC and Verizon on the outage by Friday.

“The scale and duration of the outage raises serious concerns and questions regarding the strength and security of the Verizon network,” he said in letters to both entities. “These concerns include reliability for emergency services and impact on both state and federal government operations.”

Frontier acquisition

Verizon also closed its $20 billion acquisition of Frontier on Tuesday. The companies received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission, the last of several regulators to bless the deal, on Thursday.

After absorbing Frontier’s roughly 9 million fiber passings, Verizon says it now passes about 30 million locations with fiber, a number rivalling AT&T.

“This scale accelerates our ability to serve and delight millions more customers with better value, more choices and a massive platform for innovation and growth,” Verizon CEO Dan Schulman said in an open letter to employees.

Schulman, a former PayPal CEO and Verizon board member, abruptly took over from Hans Vestberg in October.

“It is almost surely the case that ex-CEO Hans Vestberg had planned to accelerate Frontier’s fiber build (why else would he have bought it?),” MoffettNathanson founder Craig Moffett wrote in a Tuesday investor note. “It is less clear that Dan Schulman will pursue the same strategy.”

Schulman’s plan to stave off wireless customer losses with competitive promotions and pricing will be costly, Moffett wrote, potentially putting pressure on fiber expansion plans. 

The carriers, especially Verizon and AT&T, are trying to expand their fiber footprints in a bid to bundle fixed and mobile broadband, which they say keeps customers around longer. AT&T has long-term plans for 60 million passings, while Verizon is aiming for up to 45 million.