Verizon today experienced a major outage, which it now says has been resolved. To make up for the inconvenience, the carrier has promised that all affected customers will be credited an unspecified amount, with more details to be shared soon.
"Today, we let many of our customers down and for that, we are truly sorry," said Verizon.
Today, we let many of our customers down and for that, we are truly sorry. They expect more from us. We are working non-stop and making progress. Our teams will continue to work through the night until service is restored for all impacted customers. We will make this right -… — Verizon News (@VerizonNews) January 15, 2026
iPhone users with Verizon service were generally unable to make phone calls, send text messages, or use data over 5G or LTE due to the outage.
iPhone users typically see "SOS" in the status bar when a carrier experiences an outage.
Apple explains what "SOS" means in a support document:
If you see SOS or "SOS only" in the status bar, your device isn't connected to your cellular network, but you can still make emergency calls through other carrier networks. This feature is available in Australia, Canada, and the United States.
Verizon said that customers who are still having an issue should restart their devices to reconnect to the network.
