AT&T has declared that customers impacted by the outage on Thursday will receive an automatic credit of $5 as part of a “make it right” initiative, corresponding to the average daily service cost.
AT&T, with its 5G network encompassing approximately 290 million individuals nationwide, experienced disruptions in service lasting over 10 hours on Thursday.
The wireless service was reinstated by AT&T late Thursday, with the company attributing the issue to the utilization of an erroneous process during network expansion efforts.
AT&T to Reimburse Customers for Daily Service Costs
On Saturday, AT&T announced its intention to compensate affected customers for the average daily service expense.
However, a company spokesperson, contacted late Saturday, was unable to provide an estimate of the number of customers impacted by the outage.
On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission announced its initiation of an investigation into the incident, while the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is collaborating with AT&T to ascertain the root cause.
AT&T stated on Thursday that it did not attribute the outage to a cyber attack.
Reports on the X social media platform by government departments across various US cities indicated that the outage hindered individuals’ access to emergency services via the 911 emergency hotline.
Wireless Account Credit in 2 Billing Cycles
AT&T announced in its statement that the credit will usually be administered within two billing cycles to impacted wireless accounts.
However, the company clarified that this credit does not extend to AT&T Business, AT&T Prepaid, or Cricket accounts.
Additionally, AT&T stated its commitment to implementing measures aimed at averting similar incidents in the future.
Nevertheless, numerous users on X, formerly known as Twitter, criticized the $5 credit as inadequate in responses to AT&T’s announcement regarding the credit.