An AT&T outage knocked out 911 services in multiple states

It is unclear what caused the outage but the company says the issue has now been resolved.

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Eli Blumenthal is a senior editor at CNET with a particular focus on covering the latest in the ever-changing worlds of telecom, streaming and sports. He previously worked as a technology reporter at USA Today.

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Eli Blumenthal

July 2, 2019 8:38 a.m. PT

An outage knocked out 911 for AT&T mobile users Tuesday.
Josh Miller/CNET

AT&T cell phone users in multiple states were hit with outages that impacted their ability to contact emergency services Tuesday morning.

Florida, Minnesota, Indiana, Texas and Wisconsin were among the states hit by the outage, with several taking to Twitter to alert people of alternate ways to contact emergency personnel. Landline users with AT&T were not affected.

If you are an AT&T cell phone customer and need police/fire/EMS in NRH please use our direct line in to dispatch 817-281-1000. https://t.co/hEPFhLlbnA
— North Richland Hills (@CityofNRH) July 2, 2019

To clarify, the 911 issue is with AT&T cellular only. All other cellular carriers are not reporting any issues. The issue does not affect AT&T landlines. pic.twitter.com/Re5ei8S0Ht
— Hamilton County Emergency Management (@HamiltonCoEOC) July 2, 2019

911 alert!
AT&T is experiencing nationwide 911 service outage which is effecting the ability to call 911 on a cellphone. Until the issue is resolved, AT&T customers can access Arlington 911 by either calling 817-274-4444 or utilizing a landline.
— Arlington Fire Dept. (@ArlingtonTxFire) July 2, 2019

Approx an hour ago Minneapolis was made aware that AT&T is experiencing a 911 outage resulting in their customers unable to be directly connected to 911. The alternate number during this time for Mpls is 612-348-2345. We are working with our service partners to fix this issue.
— Minneapolis Police (@MinneapolisPD) July 2, 2019

URGENT NEWS: We're receiving reports that emergency dispatchers are having trouble receiving 911 calls from AT&T customers. We're told the problem is being worked on, but in the meantime please call 817-431-1515, 817-743-4522 or via the SirenGPS app, to reach us!
— Keller Police Dept (@kellerpolice) July 2, 2019

It is not clear what caused the outage though AT&T says it is resolved.

"Earlier this morning some wireless customers may have been unable to connect to 911," the company told CNET in a statement. "This has been resolved and we apologize to anyone who was affected."

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