Can you hear me now? If you were in parts of Manhattan yesterday, the answer may have been no as a Verizon equipment failure disrupted Big Red’s hardline services, as well as some of AT&T’s wireless services.
According to the Wall Street Journal:
A “digital cross-connect,” or a box that directs network traffic, was knocked out due to the severe thunderstorms over the past few days, according to a Verizon spokeswoman. The problems were first discovered at 9 a.m. EDT, she said, adding that the initial traffic is ramping back up, with expectations for full service to be restored over the next hour, or around 5:30 p.m.
The problems only affected a small part of the Manhattan. The affected areas range as high as the streets numbered in the East 40s and as low as the East 20s between Fifth Avenue and the east side of the borough, according to a Verizon spokeswoman, although other areas in the city appear to have problems as well. AT&T’s affected area appears even more limited.
So, it looks like an accident caused by violent weather and Verizon appeared to restore services as quickly as possible but the incident does show how fragile our communications system is and how interconnected it is.
The news really puts a hurt on AT&T, as the carrier is notorious for having bad Apple iPhone coverage in New York already. Even though this incident wasn’t AT&T’s fault at all, I’m sure impacted users won’t care, especially if you take into account past actions.
As the exclusive provider of the Apple iPhone, AT&T has been vilified almost from the beginning for its inability to provide consistently good mobile data and voice service in the major metropolitan areas. The “antennagateantennagateantennagateantennagateantennagateantennagateantennagate