Verizon subscribers are still upset, but it's time to look at the bigger picture
Many Verizon customers are considering drastic measures after this month's outage, but now is not the time to switch.
Most Verizon customers have started viewing the carrier differently after the January 13 outage, and it's understandable. It cannot be dismissed as a little snafu not worth getting hung up over. After all, service disruptions can cut off your only channel of communication. In the grand scheme of things, though, it was an isolated event and not a systematic failure.
When we asked our readers if this month's Verizon outage impacted their perception of it, 560 (50%) of the 1,111 respondents stated their opinion of the carrier had declined.
A total166 (15%) are considering switching to another carrier after the communications blackout.
385 (35%) of our readers were more forgiving, agreeing that glitches are part and parcel of the experience.
As of 2023, more than three-quarters of American households did not have a landline. Verizon's outage knocked out voice, text, and data services for around ten hours, which explains why many remain frustrated. While Verizon tried to make amends by offering outage credits ranging from $20 to $200, the peace offering failed to pacify everyone.
The outage attracted a lot of attention, and, in true rival fashion, AT&T and T-Mobile made sure to capitalize on Verizon's misery. However, was the episode as big a deal as it was made out to be?
According to Entner, only newer devices on 5G SA on the East Coast were impacted. He believes that only 1.5 million of Verizon's 90 million subscribers were affected.
The East Coast is home to some of the most influential cities in the US, so an outage there was akin to impacting a highly vocal and influential demographic.
That's not to disregard the inconvenience a network failure could cause. However, if you are otherwise satisfied with Verizon, an outage is not a strong enough reason to jump ship.
Verizon may be booted from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and that might be a good sign. That's because many of the companies that were dropped from the index ended up rebounding.
2025 appears to have jolted Verizon into action. The company has pressed pause on price increases and has begun providing more value to customers.
It's also trying to catch up technologically. The company bagged the most awards in RootMetrics' H2 2025 study, earning the accolade of being the best overall network. It was also rated the best for 5G experience, handily beating T-Mobile.
Verizon may have lost its way, but it seems to be on the right track. Outages are unpredictable, and no network is immune to them. Unless you have other grievances with the company, it's prudent to stay put.
Customer opinion of Verizon was impacted
When we asked our readers if this month's Verizon outage impacted their perception of it, 560 (50%) of the 1,111 respondents stated their opinion of the carrier had declined.
385 (35%) of our readers were more forgiving, agreeing that glitches are part and parcel of the experience.
Do you view Verizon differently after the outage?
Impact was not widespread
As of 2023, more than three-quarters of American households did not have a landline. Verizon's outage knocked out voice, text, and data services for around ten hours, which explains why many remain frustrated. While Verizon tried to make amends by offering outage credits ranging from $20 to $200, the peace offering failed to pacify everyone.
Recon Analytics' founder, Roger Entner, believes a buggy minor update to the 5G Standalone (5G SA) core brought the network down.
The outage attracted a lot of attention, and, in true rival fashion, AT&T and T-Mobile made sure to capitalize on Verizon's misery. However, was the episode as big a deal as it was made out to be?
According to Entner, only newer devices on 5G SA on the East Coast were impacted. He believes that only 1.5 million of Verizon's 90 million subscribers were affected.
The East Coast is home to some of the most influential cities in the US, so an outage there was akin to impacting a highly vocal and influential demographic.
Verizon's outage hysteria? Overblown because it hit media elites. This minor glitch in 5G core affected just 1.5M of 90M subs – some of them with megaphones out for blood.
Roger Entner, Recon Analytics' founder, January 2025
Verizon's comeback
Verizon may be booted from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and that might be a good sign. That's because many of the companies that were dropped from the index ended up rebounding.
2025 appears to have jolted Verizon into action. The company has pressed pause on price increases and has begun providing more value to customers.
It's also trying to catch up technologically. The company bagged the most awards in RootMetrics' H2 2025 study, earning the accolade of being the best overall network. It was also rated the best for 5G experience, handily beating T-Mobile.
Verizon may have lost its way, but it seems to be on the right track. Outages are unpredictable, and no network is immune to them. Unless you have other grievances with the company, it's prudent to stay put.
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