Brooke Joyner/CNN
During the AT&T outage on Feb. 22, iPhones in Atlanta displayed a “No Service” message.
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CNN
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AT&T will compensate customers for approximately 12 hours of network outage On Thursday the company Announced in a news release.
The mobile network will issue “potentially affected” AT&T Wireless customers a $5 credit, which it says is “the average cost of a full day's service.”
“We are aware of the frustration this outage has caused, and we know we have disappointed many customers,” the company said late Saturday. “We understand that this may have impacted their ability to connect with family, friends and others. Methods can be confusing.”
This credit does not apply to AT&T business or prepaid plan customers or customers with Cricket Wireless accounts. AT&T acquired Cricket in 2014 for approximately $1.2 billion.
The network outage was first reported at 3:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, leaving tens of thousands of subscribers out of service. You will have full access to calls, texts, internet, and emergency services across the United States. AT&T had been experiencing sporadic service interruptions in the days leading up to the outage, including temporary outages of its 911 service in some parts of the Southeast.
Regional wireless service interruptions occur from time to time, but long-term national interruptions are rare. The Federal Communications Commission confirmed Thursday that it is investigating the incident.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency also told CNN on Thursday that it is “working closely with AT&T to understand the cause and impact of the outage and stands ready to provide any necessary assistance.”
Hours after service was restored, AT&T released an update saying the outage appeared to be the result of an internal issue rather than a cybersecurity threat.
“Based on our initial investigation, we believe today's failure was due to the incorrect application and execution of the processes used when expanding the network,” the company said.
AT&T reiterated Saturday that it was taking steps to “prevent something like this from happening again in the future,” without providing further details.
