---
title: "Zoom and Google Outages Roil Work-From-Home Economy in US"
description: "Internet customers across a broad swath of the eastern U.S. suffered slow or faltering access Tuesday, with customers registering complaints about service from broadband providers Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Business Maverick"
author: "Bloomberg"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/bloomberg/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-01-26-zoom-and-google-outages-roil-work-from-home-economy-in-u-s/"
published: "2021-01-26T23:38:24"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 213
---

# Zoom and Google Outages Roil Work-From-Home Economy in US

> Internet customers across a broad swath of the eastern U.S. suffered slow or faltering access Tuesday, with customers registering complaints about service from broadband providers Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp.

By Bloomberg · Published 27 January 2021, 01:38 SAST

## Content

Verizon technicians and network staff were investigating the situation but couldn’t yet confirm what caused the problem or the extent of the disruption, a company spokesman said Tuesday.

[DownDetector](https://downdetector.com/status/bandwidth/), a real-time monitoring service, showed a surge in reports of service interruptions Tuesday from those providers, with a spillover to popular websites like Google, YouTube and Zoom. The problems appeared to be concentrated on the East Coast.

> There is a fiber cut in Brooklyn. We have no ETR, as of yet. You can use the MY Fios app for updates. \*EAG
>
> — Verizon Support (@VerizonSupport) [January 26, 2021](https://twitter.com/VerizonSupport/status/1354109889572982786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

The pandemic has made broadband outages especially difficult. High-speed internet connections have become a lifeline during the Covid-19 pandemic as millions of office staff, students, health-care professionals and others use broadband to work remotely.

Verizon’s problems also are ill-timed for a company that just reported disappointing results on Tuesday morning.

Read more: Verizon falls after posting disappointing subscriber figures

The carrier’s shares slipped as much as 3.4% to $56.46, marking its biggest intraday decline since March 2020.

In response to questions about the blackout, Verizon reported [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/verizonsupport/status/1354109889572982786?s=21) that it suffered a cut in a fiber line in the Brooklyn area, without offering an estimated time of repair. User comments suggest the outage was widespread.