Data services in the United States for Verizon users went out this morning and late last night, leaving users without a data connection via the Verizon network. The outages are being reported via Verizon"s forums, according to MSN Technology (MSN is of course, owned by Microsoft).
Users have reported unreliable connections and the connection status of some devices displayed incorrectly. In other words, the device claims to have a connection, but there is no connection available. The reports have come in from California, Virginia, New York, Nevada, and New Jersey. A long list of other states were being reported as well.
Verizon responded with the following statement:
Verizon Wireless 4G LTE service is returning to normal this morning after company engineers worked to resolve an issue with the 4G network during the early morning hours today. Throughout this time, 4G LTE customers were able to make voice calls and send and receive text messages. The 3G data network operated normally.
Jeff Kagan, a wireless industry analyst, said that it is not suprising that the outage occurred. He says that as we become more connected in the wireless world, expect more outages. He also says that this time of year, people gobble up more data because of the holiday season. He said users of data on all networks should "brace for impact", and that more slowdowns and outages will occur.