Redwood City – A widespread outage leaving many AT&T customers without cellular service prompted County of San Mateo officials to urge users to connect to WiFi calling or use a landline if they need to reach 911.
The County’s Department of Emergency Management is monitoring the situation, which appears to affect thousands of AT&T customers nationwide.
Wi-Fi calling is a built-in feature on most Android devices and iPhones and can be turned on under the phone’s settings. If WiFi calling is not available, officials suggest residents contact a friend or family with a different carrier to call 911 on their behalf or to use a landline.
The County’s 911 Public Safety Dispatch Center remains fully operational.
“Please do not call 911 to see if your phone works,” said Shruti Dhapodkar, director of the Department of Emergency Management. “Call 911 only in the event of an emergency.”
On the platform X, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said it “is closely monitoring a reported AT&T outage Thursday morning that is impacting some callers from being able to dial out, including to 911. The outage is believed to be isolated to mobile AT&T customers. @SMCDispatch is fully operational.”
In a statement, AT&T said, “Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. We are working urgently to restore service to them. We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”
Posted at 10:55 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024
Michelle Durand
Chief Communications Officer
mdurand@smcgov.org