The cellphone data outage, which began affecting AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon users on Wednesday, left many US travelers without a key tool for checking maps, making reservations and using ride-hailing apps.
Affected travelers, mostly from Europe, took to social media to ask what was causing the outage and how long it would last. Some reported being without Wi-Fi for 24 hours, unable to make calls, send text messages or use online services. The outage is thought to have stretched from the UK to Turkey, but the cause is unclear.
An AT&T spokesman said its network is operating normally, but some customers traveling internationally may have experienced service disruptions due to an issue outside of the AT&T network. The company said it is working with one of its roaming providers to resolve the issue.
Verizon told some customers on social media that it was aware of the issue and was working with local providers to resolve it.
A T-Mobile representative said the company is “one of several providers affected by a third-party vendor issue that is intermittently impacting some international roaming services” and that it is working to resolve the issue.
George Lagos, a 70-year-old real estate developer from Dunedin, Florida, was visiting the Greek island of Crete with his family when he found out his T-Mobile cellular data was out on Wednesday. He said he was unable to contact his planners for about 24 hours. Luckily, they had already worked out the details.
“I know it’s an inconvenience, but it wasn’t a catastrophe,” said Lagos, whose service appeared to have been restored by Thursday evening. “I didn’t miss my flight and no taxis were looking for me.”
But there was a bigger concern: Mr. Lagos’ wife’s mother had fallen ill and his wife was unable to contact those helping to care for her.
“That was probably the worst,” Lagos said.
All major U.S. carriers offer some form of comprehensive international data plan that allows travelers to use their mobile phones within the United States.
While the current disruptions seem to be easing, travellers affected by such outages have other options for getting connected. For phones that still have a SIM card in them, replacing the physical SIM card will allow you to connect to local networks (these are usually offered as part of prepaid or pay-as-you-go packages). For newer phones, apps like Airalo offer relatively cheap electronic SIM card packages in many international destinations. Of course, you can always find a secure Wi-Fi network.
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