AT&T will offer a $5 credit to customers affected by Thursday's massive outage caused by technical issues the company encountered while trying to expand its network, the company's chief executive said. It was announced on Sunday.
The outage, which began around 3:30 a.m. ET, temporarily disrupted connectivity for users across the United States.
Cities affected include Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York, according to Downdetector.com, which tracks user reports of communication and internet disruptions.
At its peak, the site received about 70,000 reports of AT&T service interruptions. Service was fully restored approximately 7 hours later.
“Regardless of the timing, one thing is clear: We are committed to supporting many of our customers, including you and many of your family members,” AT&T CEO John T. Stankey said in a letter dated Sunday. It means that we have disappointed them.” “For that reason, I would like to apologize.”
To “make it right,” AT&T is offering a $5 credit to customers' AT&T Wireless accounts, according to the company's website.
The company said it was “automatically applying account credits to some of our consumer and small business customers most impacted by the outage to compensate for the inconvenience they experienced.”
The company says it will take one to two billing cycles for credits to appear, depending on when a customer's bill is due.
Stankey wrote that there are options available to prepaid customers if affected, but he did not specifically identify those options.
AT&T also said it is “working closely” with mid-market and enterprise Internet plan customers to address their concerns.
It wasn't immediately clear how much of an impact the credit would have on lost revenue. A company representative could not be reached Sunday.
AT&T emphasized in a statement that the outage was not caused by a cyberattack.
“Initial investigation into the cause of Thursday's outage indicates that it was caused by the incorrect application and execution of processes used during network expansion efforts,” Stankey said in the letter. .
The credit is intended to refund customers for the days of lost service, he wrote.
“I believe that providing essentially a full day of service to these customers is the right thing to do,” Stankey wrote.
