https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/02/atts-botched-network-update-caused-yesterdays-major-wireless-outage/
AT&T blamed itself for "incorrect process used as we were expanding our network."
It literally affected emergency services' ability to contact each other in multiple areas of the country.
I know that, that's not what I'm talking about. My agency was also affected. I'm specifically talking about a cell phone's ability to dial 911. Every cell phone must be able to dial 911 regardless of service, for safety reasons. This has been a requirement for quite a while before the issues we had with AT&T. One phone company's IT blip should not have affected any phone from calling 911 specifically because service is not needed to do so on a normal day. Agencies wouldn't be able to communicate with each other if they AT&T services because you can't dial 911 from one agency to the next, it doesn't work that way.