AT&T users from all across the country have reported an outage this morning Feb. 22. The “SOS” message in the top right corner of phones has been taunting citizens in every state. The outage started at 3:30 a.m. and has been knocking out service left and right.
AT&T themselves do not have a specific timeline of when it will be fixed, and have made a statement advising customers to utilize WiFi. The company is not citing any reason for the major outage, though many assume it arose due to a process called peering, which is when two networks that are connected exchange traffic.
With the facts out of the way, how are Liberty students handling this outage?
“I like to use my phone during lunch, and without service I can’t do that. It’s lame,” sophomore Clem Arey says. He, like many others, unwinds during Soar Time by watching videos on social media. Without service, he and many others are left to sit through lunch without any pick-me-ups that those apps may provide.
It makes me feel unstable. Having cell service makes me feel like I can rely on something
— Emily Nguyen
Emily Nguyen, another sophomore, is worried for a different reason. “It makes me feel unstable. Having cell service makes me feel like I can rely on something,” she explains. In regards to safety concerns presented by having no cell service, a sheriff’s office in Florida has announced texts to emergency numbers have been working despite the lack of cellular connection.
Junior Clara Walker takes a more lighthearted outlook on the situation. “I think it was inevitable because the sharks keep eating the cables,” Walker says, referring to the undersea wiring that sharks have reportedly taken a liking to, “I think it’s a wake-up call,” she adds. Fortunately for us, though, Google has been using shark-proof armor on their fiber-optic cables since 2014, meaning this outage, at the very least, was not caused by hungry fish.
Overall, students are upset that they can’t use their phones. “I use my phone for everything, basically, and it sucks not having it,” student, Kieran Howsare states. With cell phones already being banned in classes, not being able to use them during the beloved power lunch is the final blow.
Howsare’s statement summarizes most of the student body’s thoughts. “It sucks not having it.”
