T-Mobile Network Suffers Major Outage in US: iPhone Users Forced Into 'SOS' Mode

T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS is facing a major outage in the U.S., forcing Apple Inc. AAPL smartphones to go into “SOS” mode. 

What Happened: T-Mobile customers started complaining about the network system being down shortly after 6 PM PT. The services are still down at certain geographical locations, including West Seattle and Southern California. 

See Also: Ransomware Attack Targets Thousands Of Computers Worldwide Including Those In The US

@TMobileHelp outrage in southern California. Is this going to get fixed soon?

— Paul Hernandez (@politoelflaco84) February 14, 2023

@TMobileHelp everything ok with service? We're having issues in West Seattle.

— MIKETOWN (@THEmiketown) February 14, 2023

@NevilleRay @TMobileHelp @MikeSievert what is with this service??? SOS for hours. Phone only works on Wi-Fi. What a shame.

— Zach (@Platypus_10) February 14, 2023

iPhone users, in particular, see the SOS icon on their device’s status bar. This indicates that there is no network connection on their iPhones, according to 9To5Mac.

For the unversed, the SOS icon appears on the iPhone status bar when a cellular network is available for emergency calls. iPhone owners still seeing the SOS icon on their status bar should take this as an indication that T-Mobile service is still unavailable in their areas. 

The company has acknowledged the issue and said they are “rapidly addressing” the problem that has impacted some voice, messaging and data services.

Our teams are rapidly addressing a 3rd party fiber interruption issue that has intermittently impacted some voice, messaging and data services in several areas. The situation is improving and we hope to have a full resolution very soon. We apologize for any disruption caused.

— Neville (@NevilleRay) February 14, 2023

There were significant improvements at the time of writing, but the service was not completely restored. 

We have seen significant improvement and are operating at near normal levels. Our teams continue to monitor and we greatly appreciate everyone's patience. We apologize for any impacts this issue may have had for our customers.

— Neville (@NevilleRay) February 14, 2023

Why It’s Important: Previously, in January T-Mobile data hack incident impacted 37 million postpaid and prepaid customers. 

While the company promptly dedicated an external cybersecurity team to stop the activity, the fact that it was the second substantial security breach at T-Mobile in the last two years made the entire affair infinitely more concerning. 

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