Verizon Communications announced that customers impacted by Wednesday’s cell service outage are eligible to claim a $20 account credit through their online account portal. The company noted that an average $20 credit roughly covers several days of typical wireless service charges. Retail wireless customers will receive a text notification once the credit is available, while business account holders will be contacted directly by Verizon representatives to facilitate the redemption process.

The service disruption, which generated more than 2 million user reports on the DownDetector platform, was fully resolved by 10:15 p.m. ET on the same day it began. Verizon has not publicly disclosed the root cause of the outage, but emphasized that its engineering teams restored full network functionality within hours, minimizing prolonged impact on voice, text and data services across its nationwide footprint.

As of its latest quarterly earnings report in October, Verizon holds 146.1 million retail wireless phone lines on its network. The company did not specify a redemption deadline or estimate how many subscribers will claim the $20 credit, but even a 10% uptake would represent credits totaling nearly $300 million. Business services, which account for approximately 25% of Verizon’s wireless revenue, will see individual outreach to ensure enterprise clients receive their corresponding compensation.

Shares of Verizon were down 0.7% in early-afternoon trading following the outage announcement, extending a modest 2% gain over the past 12 months. This performance lags the benchmark S&P 500 index, which has rallied 17% during the same period. The outage joins a series of high-profile network disruptions in recent years—ranging from cloud provider failures to rival AT&T’s February 2024 service interruption—underscoring the critical importance of uninterrupted connectivity in driving subscriber retention and long-term revenue growth.