On Feb. 22, 2024, in the early morning, AT&T customers across the country experienced a widespread wireless connection outage, affecting calls and connectivity to the AT&T network. Speculation and theories arose surrounding a cyberattack supposedly deriving from a foreign power.
After thorough investigation and collaboration with government authorities, the cause behind the outage was “due to the application and execution of an incorrect process used while working to expand our network,” AT&T CEO, John Stankey, later said in an employee statement.
Although wireless connection was restored to all AT&T customers by noon the same day, some customers had issues contacting authorities and accessing important information and calls. On the AT&T website, a Q&A was released to answer any questions consumers may have had about the outage, including compromised data, compensation and more.
In a question related to any data leaks, AT&T said, “We have not seen any evidence and have no reason to believe the Feb. 22 outage involved a third party or that customer data was compromised during the event.”
Several restaurants and snack spots across the nation reported having to close in the early hours of the morning due to the lack of availability to process payments, also being addressed by the network provider.
“For the portion of consumer and small business customers most impacted by the outage, we are automatically applying an account credit to compensate them for the inconvenience they experienced,” Stankey said.
Stankey went on to explain that outages are part of an internet provider’s business model, despite being inconvenient and sometimes troubling. He said this wasn’t the first time and won’t be the last, but AT&T is grateful for their teams who were able to address the widespread issues in just a handful of hours.
“What matters most is how we react, adapt and improve to deliver the service our customers need and expect. Every AT&T customer deserves a connectivity experience they can feel confident in, and that’s exactly what we’re going to deliver. While it is not unexpected to encounter challenges as we enhance and expand our network, we have processes and redundancies in place for a reason. We owe it to our customers and ourselves to do better, and I know that each and every one of you[employees] is committed to that goal,” Stankey said
Despite the issues customers experienced during the outage, the compensation, clarity and honesty with its customers demonstrated AT&T’s devotion to its shareholders and consumers.
“These challenges provide opportunities to identify key learnings that will make us better, and I can tell you that we have already implemented changes to prevent what happened on Thursday. Knowing our plans for growth, resiliency and customer focus, I am as positive and optimistic about the future as I have ever been. We have North America’s largest wireless network and the nation’s largest and fastest-growing fiber network. No company is better suited to answer the call for widespread connectivity than AT&T,” Stankey said.
