California cities report 911 outages affecting AT&T and T-Mobile users

What happened

On Thursday, Oakland, Riverside County, and Santa Barbara County experienced outages affecting 911 services and emergency dispatch systems. In Oakland, the Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system froze around 8:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday, displaying an error message. As a result, all 911 calls were redirected to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, according to reports from Gizmodo. The City of Oakland’s IT department confirmed it is collaborating with AT&T to restore internet and phone services.

Impacted areas and workarounds

In Santa Barbara, the outages appear to affect AT&T and T-Mobile customers, though Text-to-911 services remain functional. Riverside County also reported issues, with some cellular users unable to connect to 911. Residents there are advised to dial 951-776-1078 as a temporary alternative. Law enforcement agencies acknowledged the disruptions but were uncertain about the cause or timeline for resolution.

A reporter confirmed that 911 services in Riverside County were not entirely down, noting that some users could still connect due to the resilience of the law enforcement telecommunications network.

Possible cybersecurity link

The cause of the outages remains unclear, but cybersecurity experts are investigating a potential connection to vulnerabilities dubbed 'Black October.' These flaws, discovered earlier in the week, affect PHP and have reportedly seen millions of exploitation attempts, according to Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince. Neither AT&T nor T-Mobile responded to inquiries about the outages.

Authorities urged residents not to test 911 or alternative emergency lines to avoid overwhelming the system.

What this means

Lazyfounder analysis — our interpretation, not reported fact.

For founders and operators in public safety, emergency response, or telecommunications, these outages serve as a reminder of the fragility of critical infrastructure. The reliance on single points of failure—like centralized dispatch systems or carrier-dependent services—creates risks that can cascade during disruptions. Startups in this space may explore building redundant, carrier-agnostic solutions or tools that automatically fail over to alternative communication channels, such as SMS or decentralized networks.

The potential cybersecurity angle, including the 'Black October' vulnerabilities, also signals broader risks for enterprises relying on legacy systems or unpatched software. For operators, this is a prompt to audit dependencies on third-party vendors (like telecom providers) and ensure disaster recovery plans account for both technical failures and cyber threats.

Key takeaways

• Emergency service disruptions highlight vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, emphasizing the need for redundant systems and failover protocols for public safety operators.
• The potential link to 'Black October' cybersecurity vulnerabilities underscores risks for startups and enterprises relying on legacy or unpatched systems, particularly in telecommunications and emergency response.
• Alternative contact methods, like Text-to-911 or direct dial numbers, can mitigate outages—founders in public safety tech or crisis management may find opportunities in building resilient communication tools.

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