Verizon data, MMS fail on Wednesday

(Updated with fix, cause) Verizon cellphone customers on Wednesday reported a seemingly US-wide data outage. The issue affects both conventional data for all devices as well as messaging services like BlackBerry e-mail and MMS. Service problems don't appear to be region-specific and have been intermittent, with some already being back to normal while others have lost service a second time or have only gotten back certain features.

Verizon hasn't provided a public response, but those who have contacted the carrier were told there was no estimated time for when data would return to normal.

The glitch comes just several weeks after Verizon CTO Anthony Melone said his firm's network could handle the iPhone and after an ironic experience during the iPad unveiling at which many reporters noted that Verizon's 3G network was the most bogged down of those in use at the San Francisco event.

Update: Verizon said this morning that the issue was fixed as of roughly 8:15AM [despite some claims to the contrary - Ed.] and was largely limited to customers east of the Mississippi River. The drop was triggered by "bad switch software," according to company spokesman James Gerace.

By Electronista Staff