Phone Service Feature

Monday wasn’t off to a great start for Verizon Wireless (News - Alert) subscribers in Virginia. Thanks to social media, many were able to confirm that an outage was not an isolated issue and was, in fact, a larger-scale problem that affected calls and data applications throughout the state.

The service issues started around 1:30 p.m. in a few areas of Virginia; the problems cited included voice and data outages.

Many reports on Twitter expressed users’ concerns, frustrations and updates on the matter. A Verizon Wireless spokesperson told WTKR, a Virginia radio station, that they were aware of the problem.

"Verizon Wireless is aware of the issue and our crews are addressing it," the spokesperson said, according to the Huffington Post. "We'll share more information as it becomes available."

Customers’ devices were in a constant state of “searching for service” during the outage, causing an inconvenience not only for users but for police and Emergency Medical Service workers as well. 

News outlets all over Virginia kept customers (with an Internet connection, at least) up to date on the issues as they knew more. Users relying on data devices for updated information were not so lucky

A customer told WAVY.com, a local news outlet in Virginia, "Probably about 1:30 it started going out. I use it for work so people were calling me and everything -- I can't get no service."

The outage occurred just 10 days before the company begins taking orders from existing customers for the iPhone (News - Alert) -- a long-awaited offering since rival AT&T became the first and exclusive carrier for Apple (News - Alert) 's smartphone.

Many wondered if this would be a foretelling of problems to come once the iPhone hits the shelves nationwide.

The New York Times blog reported that Jeffery Nelson, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless, was in no way worried that this network hiccup would impact the iPhone.

“This was isolated and doesn’t have further ramifications,” he said.

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