A widespread Cellcom outage that began Wednesday night has continued through Thursday, leaving thousands of customers across Northeast Wisconsin without the ability to make phone calls or send text messages. What was initially thought to be a short-term disruption has now developed into a more prolonged service failure, Cellcom officials confirmed Thursday evening.
In a statement released around 6:30 p.m., the company acknowledged the severity of the issue:
“We want to be upfront with you — what we hoped would be a short-term issue is now looking like a longer recovery. Our teams and partners continue working around the clock on a complex technical issue affecting voice and SMS services.”
While mobile data, internet, iMessage, RCS messaging, and third-party apps like WhatsApp and FaceTime remain functional for most users, traditional voice and SMS communication are largely unavailable. Number porting services have also been suspended.
The outage has impacted not only individuals but also schools, businesses, and local governments. Shawano and Oconto Falls School Districts both reported that their phone systems were down as a result.
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