AT&T offers $5 account credit to customers affected by nationwide cellular outage
CHICAGO -- AT&T is offering an account credit to customers who were affected by a nationwide outage earlier this week, the company announced in an email sent to customers.
"We apologize for Thursday's network outage, which may have impacted your ability to connect with family, friends, and others," the email read. "As a valued customer, your connection matters, and we're committed to doing better. To help make it right, you'll automatically receive an account credit. We're also taking steps to prevent this from happening again in the future. Our priority is to continuously improve and be sure you stay connected."
More information about the account credit can be found on AT&T's website.
One $5 credit will be added to each qualifying AT&T Wireless account, the website said.
The temporary network disruption that affected AT&T customers in the U.S. Thursday was caused by a software update gone wrong, according to preliminary information from two sources familiar with the situation.
Sources have told ABC News that there was nothing nefarious or malicious about the incident.
The disruption prompted federal agencies to investigate whether the outage was caused by a cyberattack.
In an earlier statement to ABC News, AT&T confirmed the outage and advised customers to make calls over Wi-Fi.
"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," an AT&T spokesperson said.
Later Thursday afternoon, AT&T issued an update saying that its network had been fully restored.
"We have restored wireless service to all our affected customers. We sincerely apologize to them. Keeping our customers connected remains our top priority, and we are taking steps to ensure our customers do not experience this again in the future," the company said in a message on its website.
ABC News contributed to this report.
