by Guy Page
As most Vermonters already know, their cellphone usage is out this morning. According to the industry website Techradar.com, cellphone giants AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are experiencing major outages. Here’s the little we know at the moment.
Cellphone coverage returned as of 11:18 AM for some cellphone carriers.
TechRadar reports:
When did it start? “The issues appeared to start at around 3.30 AM ET, according to Downdetector, with AT&T seemingly the hardest hit….. The main hotspots for issues are in Atlanta, Dallas and Houston.”
What’s causing it? Techradar says: “Some wilder speculation has pointed to possible interference from recent solar flares, one of which peaked today at 1:32am ET according to NASA. But a more likely explanation is more humdrum network problems.
“Lee McKnight, associate professor in the iSchool at Syracuse University, told us: “The most likely cause is a cloud misconfiguration. Which is a fancy word for saying human error. I was reviewing this exact issue in class yesterday” he said.
“Meanwhile, an anonymous industry source similarly told CNN that the issue is likely down to peering, which is how cellphone services hand off calls from one network to the next. Still, right now, this is all just speculation until we get an official explanation from AT&T and others.”
When will it be restored? Carrier PR statements say techs are working on the problem – but no timeframe for resolution is given. When VDC gives its office location on the Verizon site, we get this message: “We’re looking into Barre, VT area for a potential network disruption. We should know more within 12 hours. You can check your network status again later for updates.”