Temporary emergency 911 phone service outages that plagued multiple cellular service providers on Thursday throughout portions of Riverside County, including Indio, Palm Springs and Cathedral City, were fully restored.
A public safety alert was sent at 5 p.m. Thursday stating that 911 services were operational in Riverside County.
In Indio, the emergency phone lines were reported down about 3:30 a.m. Thursday before lines went back up at 4:11 p.m., according to the Indio Police Department.
In Palm Springs, the 911 issue was reported shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday, according to the Palm Springs Police Department.
“We are aware of an issue affecting T-Mobile customers attempting to call 911,” police said.
The Cathedral City Police Department advised residents of the disruption and referred them dial the non-emergency dispatch number for assistance if unable to connect 911.
In Desert Hot Springs, police stated they were aware of “reports of wireless service disruptions affecting AT&T and T-Mobile customers.”
“We are aware of an outage affecting some cellular users’ ability to call 911. If you have an emergency and cannot get through to 911, please call 951-776-1078,” a statement from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.
The issue extended beyond law enforcement agencies as the Coachella Valley Unified School District reported a problem with its service provider Thursday morning.
“Frontier, CVUSD’s phone service provider, is experiencing an outage affecting all district schools and offices,” the district stated in a social media post.
As of 5 p.m., the district stated its phone service had been restored.
The cause of the widespread issue was not immediately known.
