If your T-Mobile service encountered problems on Monday, you were not alone. The third largest wireless service provider appears to have problems prevalent across the country, which affects the ability to make calls and send SMS.
It is not clear what caused the problem or when it will be resolved. Users across the country looked to Twitter to report the outage, with T-Mobile rising to the forefront of the site's US hot topics starting at 7:30 p.m. AND.
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The main problem seems to be related to calls and text messages, with users saying that the data worked normally.
Neville Ray, president of technology for T-Mobile, admitted in a tweet that the carrier was down and said the carrier "hopes this issue will be resolved soon".
Our engineers are working to resolve a voice and data problem that affects customers across the country. We are sorry for the inconvenience and hope that this problem will be resolved soon.
- Neville (@NevilleRay) June 15, 2020
In a tweet sent shortly after 6 p.m. ET, Ray said the carrier was still working on fixing calls and texts, while recommending that users use apps like FaceTime, WhatsApp and iMessage to communicate.
Unlike traditional SMS or voice calls, these applications send messages and calls via the data side of the network which is always operational.
The teams continue to work as quickly as possible to resolve the voice and messaging problems that some people encounter.
Data services are now available and some calls are in progress. Alternative services like WhatsApp, Signal, iMessage, Facetime etc. are available. Thank you for your patience. https://t.co/uQiGSAFEAH- Neville (@NevilleRay) June 15, 2020
During tests in northern New Jersey, T-Mobile's data services seemed to function normally, even if I could not send an SMS and I had problems making calls on a OnePlus 8 5G .
A CNET publisher in New York was able to send SMS and iMessage using an iPhone, but the calls did not work on any device. A San Francisco Bay Area publisher noted that the calls were not working via Google Fi, the mobile phone service offered by Google that relies on the respective networks of T-Mobile, Sprint and U.S. Cellular. However, the data and texts on Fi were working.
In addition to Google Fi, T-Mobile is the underlying network that provides services to several other operators such as its prepaid brand Metro as well as Mint Mobile and Simple Mobile.
Downdetector.com, a site where users can report outages, has noted problems with all of the major wireless carriers - AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint.
AT&T and Verizon each claim that their respective networks are functioning normally and without problems. Tests in northern New Jersey on AT&T and Verizon phones revealed no problems with calls, texts or data, except when trying to text or call a T-Mobile phone.
"Verizon's network is working well. We are aware that another operator has network problems," a Verizon spokesperson told CNET in a statement. "Calls to and from this carrier may receive an error message."
The company also challenged the spread of Downdetector that its network is experiencing outages. "Sites such as Downdetector.com use limited crowdsourcing data from samples of social posts that are often statistically insignificant or factually incorrect," the spokesperson said.
"Many factors can contribute to a false report on a third party website", adding that by simply aggregating this data "the result may be false reports of network performance interruptions causing widespread miscommunication for wireless users ".
T-Mobile referred to Ray's tweet when asked for comments. Sprint, which is now owned by T-Mobile, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This story is developing ...
