Pittsburghers struggle through AT&T outage
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- AT&T has restored service after customers nationwide were hit by a cell service outage. More than 70,000 customers could not call or text, including people in Pittsburgh.
So many people rely on their phones to make calls and payments and access apps that store information. People told KDKA-TV that without service, it's difficult to manage day-to-day tasks.
Point Park student Sophia Smith says it's a challenge. "I can't text anyone or contact anyone, because I have a daily routine, I gotta get ahold of people," Smith said.
Others have to get ahold of their electronic wallets.
"Everything's on my phone: my lifeline, my apps, my Uber, my insurance card, everything goes through my phone," said Jmar Jones.
Some impacted customers used Wi-Fi to make calls and send messages, but they said it's hard when you're on the go.
"Public transit is on my app, so it kind of makes me nervous I'm going to get stranded places, that's what I was scared of this morning," said Cheyenne Cherry. "Thankfully I figured it out."
AT&T said in an update on Thursday afternoon that the outage had been fixed.
"We have restored wireless service to all our affected customers. We sincerely apologize to them. Keeping our customers connected remains our top priority, and we are taking steps to ensure our customers do not experience this again in the future," the company wrote in an update.