T-Mobile users reported network outages and connection disruptions across the US. They were not able to make phone calls or use the internet on Monday.
Several wireless carriers reported that the outages were impeding connections for consumers when they tried to call T-Mobile lines.
"Our engineers are working to resolve a voice and data issue that has been affecting customers around the country," tweeted Neville Ray, T-Mobile's (TMUS) president of technology.
T-Mobile later announced that the outages were caused by "widespread routing issue affecting voice & text."
Ray tweeted a few hours later that "data services are now available & some calls are completing."
The service-tracking site Down Detector got over 100,000 outage reports in Monday afternoon from across the US. This number, which reflected issues with making phone calls and accessing the internet, had dropped to around 25,000 by evening.
T-Mobile's outages have impacted some people's ability to dial 911, the Harris County, Texas, Sheriff's Office said on Twitter.
T-Mobile advised customers to use third party calling apps such as FaceTime, Signal, and WhatsApp, which can work over a wifi network, while the company is trying to address the issue.
Down Detector also received thousands of reports of Verizon (VZ) network outages Monday, but Verizon spokesperson Karen Schulz denied the reports.
"Sites such as Downdetector.com utilize limited crowdsourced data drawn from sample social posts which are often statistically insignificant or factually incorrect," Schulz said in a statement.
Schulz noted that factors like faulty devices and network traffic can provide the site false reports.
According to Verizon, any connectivity problems the customers are encountering were caused by issues with T-Mobile's network.
"Verizon's network is performing well," Verizon spokesperson Howard Waterman said in a statement to CNN. "We're aware that another carrier is having network issues. Calls to and from that carrier may receive an error message."
AT&T (T) also reported that the issues its customers are facing involved T-Mobile's outages, too. Down Detector disclosed thousands of AT&T customers were also complaining about connectivity issues.
"Our network is operating normally, but it's possible some customers are unable to reach people on other carriers' networks," AT&T News said in a tweet.
T-Mobile takeover of Sprint
Down Detector also revealed some outage reports at Sprint (S). The company is reportedly merging combining its network with T-Mobile's after the two companies signed a deal earlier this year. Sprint did not respond for comments.
In February 2020, a US judge has ruled in favor of a proposed T-Mobile US takeover of its smaller rival Sprint for $26 billion, which was agreed upon two years ago.
The federal judge rejected a claim by a group of Democrat-led states that the planned takeover by telecoms giant T-Mobile US of Sprint would break anti-competition laws and result to higher prices for customers.
The $26 billion deal, first agreed upon two years ago, may now be completed by the companies if left unchallenged. The takeover would mean that the US will have only three major networks in the mobile phone market, namely Verizon, AT&T, and the new T-Mobile.
FCC's reaction
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will investigate the T-Mobile network outage that affected customers across the United States, according to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.
“The T-Mobile network outage is unacceptable. The @FCC is launching an investigation. We’re demanding answers - and so are American consumers,” he said on Twitter.
