Major U.S. Cellular Carriers Face Roaming Outage for International Travelers

On Thursday, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon reported a major international roaming outage affecting their customers traveling abroad. This disruption has left many customers unable to make phone calls, send text messages, or use cellular data while overseas.

The outage is attributed to connectivity issues at Syniverse, a third-party provider responsible for handling international roaming services for all three carriers. According to statements from the companies involved, the outage began on Thursday morning and has led to significant service disruptions for customers.

T-Mobile informed CBS MoneyWatch that the outage is due to a third-party vendor's issue, creating intermittent problems with international roaming service. AT&T also reported that its mobile customers abroad were affected, emphasizing that the AT&T network itself was operating normally, but disruptions were occurring due to issues outside the network. Verizon stated that approximately 30% of its customers were unable to make calls and assured that efforts were underway to restore service.

Efforts to Resolve the Issue

All three carriers have confirmed that they are actively working with the third-party vendor to rectify the situation and restore full service for their affected customers.

In response to the disruption, Syniverse issued a statement acknowledging the inconvenience caused and expressing appreciation for the patience of customers as they work to address the challenge. The company assured that it is collaborating closely with network partners to restore normal service levels.

Customer Reactions

Customers impacted by the outage expressed frustration on social media, highlighting the difficulties they faced while traveling abroad. Reports ranged from the inability to use ride-hailing services to challenges in communicating with friends and family, with some individuals describing the situation as "dangerous."

Actor Patrick Schwarzenegger, along with several other Verizon customers, shared experiences of their phones being non-functional while overseas, underlining the widespread nature of the disruption.

Response from Carriers

While the carriers are actively addressing the issue, users affected by the outage are calling for more transparent communication and swift resolution from their service providers. As the situation continues to unfold, customers are advised to stay updated on the progress of efforts to restore international roaming services.