Jun 16, 2020 - Technology

T-Mobile customers suffer daylong outage

Ina Fried

T-Mobile time square ad — A T-Mobile billboard in Times Square. Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images

T-Mobile customers endured a daylong service outage Monday that affected users nationwide.

Why it matters: Some had speculated that the issue was a more widespread attack on multiple internet services, but it looks like many of the problems reported at other carriers and internet services were tied to the T-Mobile outages — either calls that failed because they involved a T-Mobile customer or internet services that T-Mobile customers couldn't reach.

What they're saying: T-Mobile technology chief Neville Ray confirmed the issues on Twitter during the day and CEO Mike Sievert posted a note late Monday saying the issue was an "IP traffic related issue" that created capacity issues in the network core.

CloudFlare CEO Matthew Prince said in a series of tweets that T-Mobile's issues were the result of a configuration change that led to a series of cascading issues. He also said the problems were limited to T-Mobile and shot down rumors of broader internet issues or a deliberate attack.

The big picture: Such cellular network outages are rare, but not unheard of.

Nonetheless, FCC chairman Ajit Pai said Monday night that his agency was investigating the issue.
"The T-Mobile network outage is unacceptable," Pai said in a tweet. "We're demanding answers — and so are American consumers."

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T-Mobile customers suffer daylong outage

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