The FCC will investigate the major outage experienced by AT&T subscribers last month،
Besides AT&T, MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) that rely on AT&T's network were also down. These are typically prepaid wireless companies that don't own their own networks and pay one of the majors to use their airwaves to connect their customers. The number of complaints filed by AT&T users on DownDetector increased that morning from 11 to more than 32,000.
That day, after service was restored, AT&T explained the cause of the outage by issuing this statement: “Based on our initial review, we believe today's outage was caused by the application and running an incorrect process used as we expanded our network. , not a cyber attack. We are continuing our evaluation of today's outage to ensure we continue to provide the service our customers deserve.
On February 22, more than 32,000 AT&T subscribers reported to DownDetector that their wireless service was down.
The street reports that the FCC will open an investigation into the outage. The scope of the outage was enormous with millions of people unable to make or take calls and send or receive text messages. Mobile data was down and even more worrisome, and that's a good reason why the FCC feels the need to investigate: emergency calls from some AT&T subscribers couldn't be made.
After the FCC announced it would take an in-depth look into AT&T's Feb. 22 outage, the nation's third-largest wireless provider shrugged its shoulders and said, “The industry regularly cooperates with our key regulators following severe outages to assess how network resilience and reliability can be improved. We are already working with the FCC on its review.
Of course, we'll cover any public announcement the regulatory agency makes after it completes its investigation into last month's AT&T outage. Check in often!
