Verizon outage disrupts calling, data services for wireless customers in Mendocino County

This article is part of a partnership between The Mendocino Voice and The Associated Press to bring relevant fact-based and nonpartisan news and information to Mendocino County readers through the AP Fund for Journalism. Learn more about the program here.

MENDOCINO CO., 1/14/26 (AP) — Many Verizon customers encountered a widespread outage on Wednesday, disrupting calling and other cellular services across the U.S.

The carrier acknowledged that there was an “issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers.” Verizon didn’t specify what was causing the disruptions, but said in updates shared on social media that it had deployed its engineering teams and was working to resolve the problem “as quickly as possible.”

Outage tracker Downdetector showed that Verizon customers began to report issues with their service around 9 a.m. Reports appeared to peak in the early afternoon and remained elevated later in the day — sitting close to 50,000 as of 2:45 p.m.

Some impacted users said their phones were in “SOS” mode or had other no signal messages.

Per Downdetector, customers in Mendocino County have reported issues, as well as the Sacramento area, which serves as a major Verizon hub.

A handful of outage reports for other carriers also bubbled up on Wednesday — but companies like T-Mobile and AT&T quickly confirmed online that their services were operating normally. Both suggested that their customers may be encountering issues contacting people with Verizon’s service, however.

When cellular outages happen, some phone companies also urge consumers to try to connect to Wi-Fi and use internet calling. If Wi-Fi is still unavailable, there can be a limited number of other options — including sending messages via satellite on newer iPhones.

The Mendocino Voice’s Sarah Stierch contributed to this report.

^{Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.}