AT&T is mocked by customers after network outage downed 70,000 phones and triggered fears of 'Leave the World Behind' apocalypse

AT&T has been mocked by their customers after a network outage that caused 70,000 to lose their phone signal.  

AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile users reported early on Thursday that they are having network issues nationwide and in Canada. 

According to DownDetector, over 60,000 customers are now reporting outages on the AT&T network. Earlier in the day, it had soared over 74,000. 

While AT&T has said they are 'working urgently' to resolve the issues, customers have poked fun at the the service, which is considered one of the most expensive networks.

On social media, customers poked fun at the company over the outage with some making memes comparing it Netflix thriller 'Leave the World Behind', which involves a breakdown in all technology as part of the plot.

Other customers meanwhile expressed their disdain at the outage, and demanded refunds from the company.

There has been no official reason given for the widespread drop in service, which has in turn fueled speculation on social media that hackers are behind the blackout. 

AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile users reported early on Thursday that they are having network issues nationwide and in Canada

According to DownDetector , over 70,000 customers had been reporting outages on the AT&T network

The largest number of issues was reported by AT&T users, which peaked at 51,000 customers without service before jumping to over 70,000 an hour later 

Customers poked fun at the company over the outage with some making memes comparing it Netflix thriller 'Leave the World Behind', which involves a breakdown in technology

One person said: 'SOS only. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon outage. Leave the World Behind trending?'

Another posted: 'Y'all ready to go and watch 'Leave the World Behind film now? Or you still holding out? AT&T/ US cellular outage/ SOS.'

Sharing a picture of Hunger Games character Katnisss Everdeen, one person said: 'Me after sending my final texts and leaving my WIFI riddled home to run errands on ATT's 'American's Oregon Trail provider' wireless network.'

Posting a video of a child on a swing while a fire burns around him, another person posted: 'Verizon users while AT&T users experience an outage.'

Another post states: 'T-Mobile, US Cellular, Verizon, AT&T all reporting nationwide outages, but I still have to hop on this Zoom meeting at 9am.'

While one other posted: 'Hey AT&T, did you try unplugging it, waiting ten seconds and plugging it back in yet?' 

Despite some making fun of the situation, other users demanded that the company refund them due to the blackout. 

Customers have poked fun at the the service, which is considered one of the most expensive networks

Despite some making fun of the situation, other users demanded that the company refund them due to the blackout. 

Oneuser posted: 'AT&T needs to give me my refund. This outage is unacceptable! Going the hotspot route this morning. Stay safe.'

Another added: 'I just paid my phone bill yesterday and now we're in an outage?? I need AT&T to cough up a refund/discount or something.'

While another said: 'One line + a device is almost $200 but over 30,000 people are waking up to cell service. I feel like this shouldn't happen. Where is my money going to?'

Clearly enraged, another user posted: 'This is f***ing ridiculous. AT&T, I switched over 1 year ago and it's not the 1st time our service is down. Fix this bulls***.'

One other person also demanded that their next bill be free, saying: 'I need my next bill to be free. I have top use my work phone's hotspot to tweet this.'

Another said: 'We're on a consumer cellular that's part of AT&T and we just use one phone. 

'Our bill is around $30 a month. A discount for all customers is warranted in March.'

While AT&T has said they are 'working urgently' to resolve the issues, customers have blasted the service, which is considered one of the most expensive networks.

In a statement, the company said: 'Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. 

'We are working urgently to restore service to them. We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.'

Just after 11am, a spokesperson also confirmed that network teams had managed to restore three-quarters of the network. 

The issue left AT&T iPhone users stuck in SOS mode, meaning that users can only make calls to emergency services.

Cricket, which is also part of AT&T, reported having 11,000 users down, while 2,800 Verizon customers are experiencing outages, with a further 1,000 T-Mobile users reportedly also being affected.

Service disruptions have been reported in New York, Boston, Washington, Montreal, Honolulu, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco. 

The carrier has more than 240 million subscribers, the country's largest.

On their website, AT&T have also said they are 'experiencing long hold times' and have apologized for the inconvenience.

Nationwide, 911 operators have warned that the outage has impacted their ability to take calls.

San Francisco Fire Department issued a statement saying they had been made aware of the issue and urged citizens to use try calling from a landline.

The major cellphone companies have yet make any statement regarding the outages

Flagler County Sheriff's Office in Florida shared a statement saying they had been unable to receive calls but text messages to 911 were being picked up

San Francisco Fire Department issued a statement saying they had been made aware of the issue and urged citizens to use try calling from a landline

The department added: 'If that is not an option then please try to get ahold of a friend or family member who is a customer of a different carrier and ask them to call 911 on your behalf.'

While Flagler County Sheriff's Office in Florida said they had been unable to receive calls, but text messages to 911 were being picked up.

Some have speculated online that the widespread outage could be a due to a hacking incident. 

One person posted: 'This AT&T outage definitely feels like a hack right? No service over here.'

Another commented: 'Weird. My AT&T phone works fine. Same phone and network right beside me just says SOS Why would that be? Software hack?' 

A spokesperson for T-Mobile told DailyMail.com: 'We did not experience an outage. Our network is operating normally.

'Down Detector is likely reflecting challenges our customers were having attempting to connect to users on other networks.'

While a Verizon spokesperson said: 'Verizon's network is operating normally.

'Some customers experienced issues this morning when calling or texting with customers served by another carrier. We are continuing to monitor the situation.'