We're still piecing together what caused Verizon's extended service blackout, but network experts point to possibilities based on how it transpired.

At its peak, the website downdetector showed nearly 173,000 outage reports, as the disruption also impacted users of other networks like T-Mobile and AT&T.

Verizon says a software problem caused the glitch and it is conducting a postmortem, but experts say outages are "a fact of life" these days.

Although Verizon's outage resembled a 2024 AT&T network failure that was later blamed on internal software issues, Knight told the outlet the timing feels "suspicious," pointing to heightened geopolitical tensions between the US and rivals such as China and Iran.

Following a seven-hour network outage, Verizon will offer impacted customers a $20 credit, the company confirmed to USA TODAY.

Verizon services went down tens of thousands of customers on Wednesday.

During the Verizon outage, police warned that contacting 911 could be tricky. Big disruptions can have cascading effects on everyday life.

Verizon's services are fully back up. The carrier giant suggests restarting your device to reconnect it to the network. Additionally, the carrier is also giving all impacted Verizon users a $20 account credit to make up for the outage.