- Problems started early in the morning of June 26
- Travelers reported an inability to make calls or use data
- Fingers are pointing at Syniverse, a provider of communication and networking services for mobile operators
An international roaming outage is preventing U.S. customers of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon from accessing services while they’re traveling overseas. Syniverse, a provider of communication and networking services for mobile operators that bills itself as "the world's most connected company," is taking responsibility and said it's working hard to resolve problems.
U.S. mobile customers complained on social media that they were unable to make calls, send messages or use data. They have no way of calling customer service to report problems, no means of hailing a car with a ride-sharing app and no way to check maps or reservations.
An AT&T spokesperson said the AT&T network is operating normally, but “some customers traveling internationally may be experiencing service disruptions due to an issue outside the AT&T network.”
Verizon also pointed to “an international third-party communications provider” as having issues with making voice and data connections for U.S.-based customers traveling overseas.
Verizon teams are “actively working” with the roaming partner to resolve the issue, with “70% of calls and data connections are going through at this time,” said Verizon spokesman Rich Young.
T-Mobile said it's "one of several providers impacted by a third-party vendor’s issue that is intermittently affecting some international roaming service."
Syniverse is working on restoring roaming
According to Syniverse, the problems started early Wednesday morning when “intermittent connectivity” issues started affecting mobile users while they were roaming, disrupting their ability to make calls and send messages.
At last check, Syniverse was still working with its network partners to fully restore service.
“Our team is fully committed and tirelessly working to identify and resolve the root cause of this issue. We will continue to provide updates as we make progress, ensuring our network partners and consumers are kept informed and reassured of our dedication to resolving this issue,” Syniverse said in a statement provided to Fierce.
“We understand the inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience as we navigate this challenge,” the company added.
The New York Times said the outage appeared to extend from Britain to Turkey. Of course, mobile phone customers shared their frustrations on social media, where Bloomberg found the actor Patrick Schwarzenegger talking about it, noting that Schwarzenegger is in Thailand filming the third season of “White Lotus.”
This story was updated with a statement from T-Mobile.