What you need to know
- Last week, Google News and Verizon joined a growing list of critical services facing widespread disruptions in 2024.
- Both services are back up and running, but the Verizon outage specifically left users unable to communicate for hours.
- These issues call into question the reliability of websites and messaging services, but the satellite connection may be able to help.
It doesn’t seem like it, but we’re almost halfway through 2024. So far, it hasn’t been a great year for critical digital infrastructure services. Carriers like AT&T and Verizon suffered major outages, Google News was briefly down, and iMessage became unavailable at various points this year as well. Service outages are inevitable, but we’ve seen some big ones that could have had massive consequences.
Most recently, Google News/Discover and Verizon had service outages late last week in unrelated incidents. In the grand scheme of things, Google News becoming unavailable for a few hours probably isn’t that big of a deal. The same can’t be said for the other service outages we’ve seen so far this year. Verizon’s problem caused thousands of users in many states to lose connection between the evening of Thursday, May 30, and midday on Friday, May 31.
Good day, Megan! Thank you for sharing this situation with us. We are aware of a nationwide situation affecting many states. This is not the experience we want you to have. We will restore your service as soon as possible. If you have further questions, send us a dm.>EricMay 31, 2024
In a statement to USA Today, the company explained the situation. “Some customers, primarily in the Midwestern and Western states, experienced a service outage for several hours yesterday,” a Verizon spokesperson said on May 31. “Our engineers worked quickly to resolve the issue and service was restored by 3am CT. Any customers still experiencing issues should reboot their phones.
Verizon’s support team responded to multiple user complaints on social media and said most outages are resolved within 48 hours. It took the company much less time to fix the problem this time, but that shouldn’t minimize the fear of the situation. Simply not being able to connect with others for minutes, let alone hours, can have disastrous consequences. This is especially true in the Midwestern and Western states where the Verizon outage occurred as people are more likely to live in rural areas where a cell phone may be their only way to get help in an emergency.
Verizon was the carrier affected last week, but something like this could happen to any carrier. In fact, AT&T suffered a worse incident in February, when over 73,000 users lost service. Throw iMessage outage into the mix—though it’s less severe because SMS and MMS messages can be used as a fallback—and you’ve got a scary pattern developing.
It’s a reminder that the messaging services and mobile networks we rely on every day, and those used in life-or-death situations, are far from invincible. However, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. Android 15 is fully confirmed to support satellite messaging and could be the solution to 2024’s outage problem.
Why are so many services facing outages?
First, it’s important to note that we don’t know all the details behind the major outages that have occurred this year. AT&T said the February service issue stemmed from “the application and execution of an incorrect process used while we were expanding our network, not a cyber attack.” While Verizon acknowledged last week’s outage, it referred to it only as a “service interruption” and provided no further information.
Apple’s iMessage service was down on May 16 between 5:39 p.m. and 6:35 p.m., according to the company’s services status page. Apple didn’t give up much either, only saying that “some users were affected” and that “users were unable to use this service.”
Similarly, the Google News outage last week was fixed fairly quickly, but Google didn’t say what went wrong.
This string of outages likely occurred over the course of several months purely by chance. They are all independent incidents and outages occur on occasion. However, given the importance of these services, it is more alarming that they all suffered major problems at various points throughout 2024.
How satellite messaging can help on Android 15
It’s scary enough to think that, should you need help during a Verizon or AT&T outage, your means of connecting with first responders or family members could be limited. This is where satellite messaging can come in. Android 15 will add the feature, allowing users on supported plans to message anyone via satellite. This functionality won’t do anything to stop outages from happening, but it can give users another way to contact people in the event that a mobile network or messaging service experiences an outage.
We don’t know all the details of how Android 15 will integrate satellite messaging, but based on what we know about how phones and other devices use satellite connectivity, it’s likely that satellite messaging will help if a service goes down . Satellite services use direct cell connections, which means they work outside of a carrier’s typical tower network. T-Mobile, for example, is said to be partnering with Starlink to offer satellite messaging. So if the T-Mobile network has an outage, it’s possible that users can still communicate using Starlink satellites.
Apple’s implementation of Emergency SOS via Satellite is further proof of how useful satellite messaging can be in an emergency. This iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 feature allows these phones to connect to Globalstar’s satellite network, bypassing your carrier’s network entirely. If an iPhone 14 or 15 user loses their cellular connection due to an outage, they can still use Emergency SOS via Satellite to contact help.
Android 15’s version of the feature could be even more useful. By all accounts, Android users will be able to use satellite messaging whenever Wi-Fi or cellular is unavailable, not just in an emergency. That would do it more useful in case of a network outage.
Satellite could be the future of connectivity, beyond just texting
If anything, these service outages should highlight satellite as the future of connectivity. Starlink is doing some amazing things and extends far beyond satellite messaging in Android 15. It’s brought high-speed Internet to virtually anywhere on earth—and in the sky, on planes, and at sea, via ships. It will only get better from here and could make mass outages a thing of the past.
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Image Source : www.androidcentral.com
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