CenturyLink says 911 call centers, other consumer services are restored after outage

An internet outage affecting CenturyLink customers nationwide appears to be impacting 911 call centers in some parts of the country.

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Agencies in parts of Washington, Massachusetts, Missouri, Idaho and Arizona have reported outages, prompting the Federal Communications Commission to launch an investigation Friday.

Update 9:30 p.m. EST Dec. 28: CentruryLink said all services impacted by the outage have been restored.

"All consumer services impacted by this event, including voice and 911, have been restored, the company said on Twitter. "Any latency issues will clear in the next few hours."

Update 1:35 p.m. EST Dec. 28: Employees with CenturyLink said the company is aware that some 911 services have been disrupted by Friday's ongoing outage.

“In case of an emergency, customers should use their wireless phones to call 911 or drive to the nearest fire station or emergency facility,” company officials said.

Work continued Friday to fully restore CenturyLink services.

Update 11:30 a.m. EST Dec. 28: CenturyLink employees continue working to restore service nationwide, company officials said Friday morning.

 

Update 10:55 a.m. EST Dec. 28: Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said Friday that the agency has launched an investigation into the CenturyLink outage.

“When an emergency strikes, it’s critical that Americans are able to use 911 to reach those who can help,” Pai said. “The CenturyLink service outage is therefore completely unacceptable, and its breadth and duration are particularly troubling.”

 

Update 9:55 a.m. EST Dec. 28: Some law enforcement agencies in Washington state reported that their 911 services had been restored Friday morning, according to KIRO-TV.

The news station reported that by 9:55 a.m. EST, service had been restored to Tacoma, South King County, Lewis County and parts of Thurston and Pierce counties.

"Agencies say people with emergencies should use the alternate numbers should problems occur again," KIRO-TV reported.

CenturyLink employees said Friday morning that “additional technical problems” were uncovered. Work continues to fully restore service across the country.

 

Update 8:48 a.m. EST Dec. 28: Massachusetts State Police said the agency's 911 system was restored Friday morning.

 

Original report: Multiple law enforcement agencies in Washington state said on social media that emergency call centers were not accepting calls and gave alternative contact information.

Agencies in parts of Massachusetts, Missouri, Idaho and Arizona also reported outages.

CenturyLink said engineers identified a problem and are working on repairs to fully restore service within hours.

 

An FCC official said the agency needed to investigate.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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