Verizon cites technical issue for service outage

When there’s an outage, it usually means bad news for the users affected. It also means even more bad news for the provider or firm that must now answer to the hoards of angry customers who want a clear explanation for what happened, a resolution to the problem, an assurance that it won’t be happening again (or anytime soon, since outages are not completely avoidable at all times), and some compensation in the form of refunds or rebates, if necessary.

Verizon was in hot water recently for a service outage in the US that lasted for close to 24 hours. The firm has since pointed to technical problems for the outage that occurred on its newly launched 4G network. The outage prevented users from being able to access the Internet for nearly a day.

Verizon Wireless’ Thomas Pica confirmed that the service interruption occurred from late Tuesday through Wednesday evening, stating: “The company’s network operations team resolved a technical issue.” Pica, however, declined from elaborating on the nature of the problem.

The outage has been said to be pretty embarrassing for Verizon Wireless, which is a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc and the UK’s Vodafone Group Plc. The network has gained wide recognition for being superior compared to other operators. The quality of its network is also something that the firm boasts of in its advertising campaigns.

This service outage is the second one since Verizon unveiled their 4G data service. The outage comes amid the crucial and busy holiday season as the firm is promoting the 4G Android smartphones from Motorola Mobility, Samsung, and HTC.

Pica announced that those who encountered difficulty accessing the Internet were some high-speed data customers. Some weren’t able to connect at all, while others experienced intermittent service. However, Pica stated that Verizon’s voice, text messaging and 3G data services were now operating as they should.

Source – Reuters