Massive Cingular outages right now?
by Ryan Block 
posted Mar 7th 2006 at 2:02PM
We've been
getting sparse unsubstantiated reports for the last couple of hours regarding various swaths of Cingular outages. From
what we can tell, phone may have been out earlier all across the US, but right now it just looks like portions of New
Jersey and the New York metro area are without voice, and all of America is without data. This only two days after they
announced they'd be re-forming under the new AT&T /
BellSouth buyout, and the day they debut
Cingular Video. According to our pals over at Phone Scoop, it appears no
one -- and we do mean no one -- at Cingular is available for comment right now; anyone have any idea what the
hell is going on?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Update: Ok, so we've got it that apparently this was a major database issue causing inconsistent subscriber problems nation wide (think: random accounts across the US, not complete outages). Supposedly everything's sorted out now, so hopefully we'll be able to carry on with our rabid data consumption.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John Carhart @ Mar 7th 2006 2:07PM
I have been in the city NYC for the past few hours and could get NO signal, have been going crazy, finally got a signal for a few moments, but could not call any other cingular customers....what's going on?????
fanguad @ Mar 7th 2006 2:08PM
My [Cingular] phone *says* that it has voice and data connectivity. I can't make a phone call right now, but data seems to work fine. Greater Boston area here.
streetclerk @ Mar 7th 2006 2:09PM
check out: http://www.nbc5i.com/news/7779423/detail.html
fanguad @ Mar 7th 2006 2:10PM
A note about the previous comment. When I said "I can't make a phone call right now" I meant that I can't do that because I'm at work, not because the phone won't let me.
Justin @ Mar 7th 2006 2:10PM
pfft, told y'all Cingular sucks in NYC! har har! I think T-Mo and Cingular are the only US carriers that this actually happens to. If that isn't proof positive that the state of GSM in the US is horrible, not sure what is.
Andrew @ Mar 7th 2006 2:11PM
Voice and Data are working for me and i'm on Long Island.
Chinaski @ Mar 7th 2006 2:12PM
Dallas, TX - I have Data and Voice, no problems here.
Brian Goode @ Mar 7th 2006 2:14PM
My voice signal is fine, and I just recieved a call in the greater Seattle area. Never had data though, so I can't comment on that.
mf @ Mar 7th 2006 2:15PM
On the west coast cingular seems to be working just fine for me...
Robin @ Mar 7th 2006 2:15PM
So frustrating. managed to get one call throughto customer support. They are aware of teh outage and said they are working on getting it up within the next 24 hours. Great.
Mike W @ Mar 7th 2006 2:16PM
NJ here close to Trenton and everything is working just fine.
MattS @ Mar 7th 2006 2:16PM
Working fine in Southeast NC, as usual. Cingular's service here has been great, and Suncom can suck eggs.
Ross @ Mar 7th 2006 2:16PM
My Sprint a920 works great! Fast EVDO speeds for both voice and data.
Spamalot @ Mar 7th 2006 2:17PM
Everyting A-OK here in New Jerz...
--
Spamalot
www.squatsquat.com
Jason P @ Mar 7th 2006 2:17PM
All clear in both Pittsburgh and Cleveland markets
Tim B @ Mar 7th 2006 2:18PM
All good in Los Angeles. Full Data, Video, and calls are fine.
Adam Hodge @ Mar 7th 2006 2:18PM
everything is on in Indy...
marvey @ Mar 7th 2006 2:19PM
no probs on voice or data in central KY.
Ben @ Mar 7th 2006 2:19PM
My voice and data are working fine in south central WI, but why has the 8125 disappeared from the website? I was just about ready to put up the money on an upgrade and now I can't.
KP @ Mar 7th 2006 2:25PM
All's Good in N Florida, Data and Voice Rockin' like usual.
shamste @ Mar 7th 2006 2:26PM
This is WAY too early to be affected by the AT&T and BellSouth merger. And still, it will really only be a re-branding effort.
wulff @ Mar 7th 2006 2:29PM
i'm in the san antonio texas area, and yeah cingular has been off and on the last few days. sometimes cant complete calls, data is touchy, but was working (it isnt right now, though).. i dunno what is going on.
Kiko @ Mar 7th 2006 2:29PM
They were restarting the swtiches which caused the issue. It should have lasted only 45 minutes, one hour maximum.
DC Pummill @ Mar 7th 2006 2:29PM
No issues in Maine.
Daniel @ Mar 7th 2006 2:32PM
I am in Gainesville, FL. We have no voice or data. Cingular is about to loose business from my company! Big deals are going on! Communication IS A MUST!
Sascha Segan @ Mar 7th 2006 2:34PM
I've had no problems with voice or data today, including Cingular Video, here at PC Mag HQ in midtown Manhattan. Odd.
#19 - Cingular told me yesterday they temporarily sold out of the 8125. It'll be back.
alex @ Mar 7th 2006 2:36PM
OKC, OK is OK all day.
Josh Kooistra @ Mar 7th 2006 2:36PM
my verizon samsung i730 is kickin ass as usuall, data voice everything works.
Ryan @ Mar 7th 2006 2:37PM
I used to have cingular (for over 4 years), switched to Verizon, better coverage less dropped calls love it!
Darren @ Mar 7th 2006 2:39PM
I have data right now in the Seattle, WA area.
Darren @ Mar 7th 2006 2:40PM
My girlfriend's cingular service is working flawlessly, although it has been having data problems and blackouts lately. I have t-mobile with an unlocked 650.
Bill_T @ Mar 7th 2006 2:42PM
I think someone tripped over the plug again!
mark @ Mar 7th 2006 2:42PM
Must...resist...joke...about...."more bars in more places"...Feeling...smug...about...my fully functioning T-mobile phone....
Brett @ Mar 7th 2006 2:50PM
Can't recieve calls in Baton Rouge. Data is fine, and can make calls.
David Ward @ Mar 7th 2006 3:01PM
I'm outside of Los Angeles, voice & data are working fine for me on my Treo650.
AL @ Mar 7th 2006 3:46PM
I've been receiving SMS spam messages to my Blackberry over the past few days -- anyone else having this issue?
Mike @ Mar 7th 2006 3:48PM
I'm so glad to read this... I was worried earlier when my phone had NO signal, and then required an unlock code after I recycled the power! Whew...
Adrian @ Mar 7th 2006 4:46PM
I have been using my Cingular phone all day here in Hollywood, CA (voice and data) and have had no problems.
And please Verizon snobs ... that's what our work phones are and they have problems too from time to time. Besides, if you go outside of Verizon's own network onto smaller mom-and-pop's you get NO data and a lot of the time no voicemail notification. It's frustrating for me -- especially the voicemail problem.
suzanne @ Mar 7th 2006 5:05PM
I've been having sporadic problems for days. Thought it was my phone. This morning no calls, no data on the train into NYC from Westchester County. And none still at 4:30 p.m. :-(
Here comes the Judge @ Mar 7th 2006 5:33PM
No problems here from Chicago.
To the Verizon poster,
Does your carrier use a sim card? or do you have to pay a fee everytime you wish to switch phones.
Mohammad A. @ Mar 7th 2006 11:14PM
Yeah i had no service in brooklyn from approximately 11am until 3pm. And about that cingular 8125, i dunno if it is sold out but I ordered mine, got a barebone phone with literally nothing(not even a battery or a battery cover let alone the charger or the manual) so if it is sold out im gonna have problems getting that replacement shipped to me.
joshman @ Mar 8th 2006 12:53PM
No problems in the St. Louis and surrounding areas with voice or data. I have yet to receive any complaints from any customers about any outage as well.
Pravus @ Mar 8th 2006 1:26PM
I work at a service desk for a big company and we got this email.
"Cingular has experienced an outage affecting some markets across the country. Texas, NJ, Maryland/Virginia, Southern California have reported issues. Wireless users may experience sporadic loss of voice and data service. The root cause is unknown at this point, but an HLR in Sacramento is suspected. ET of resolution is still unknown, but this is receiving the highest priority.
Details:
The issue appears to national in scope affecting many customers in many markets.
A SIR 1E (the highest level of Service Interruption Report) has been issued and there is a high focus on getting the issue resolved.
Our National Service Delivery teams are working the problem and we should expect service to be fully restored as soon as possible.
The national Trouble Ticket number is TT#000002635986
Michael Katz @ Mar 8th 2006 3:52PM
My nokia 3100 gets no service anymore in south florida, but my treo 650 gets full service and still does have data
Robert Getch @ Mar 8th 2006 6:52PM
No problems, Zip, nada, full bars, fast data.
Cingular- Audiovox smt 5600
Tim @ Apr 18th 2007 10:08PM
I am experiencing outage here in Palmdale, California, however text messaging is still working. Leave it to ATT to f... things up !
I wouldn't doubt that this lack of service will certainly leave an impression later when some of us will further experience having to rely upon Verizon.
I use to help build cell phones for Verizon for many years as well as being a loyal customer, and now I am starting to regret my carrier choice.
Voice quality was much better through Verizon, NOT the same through Cingular/ATT.