Many Utahns went without internet for a part of the day on Sunday afternoon and evening.
Outage reports for Comcast/Xfinity customers started around 3:30 p.m. and peaked around 4:40 p.m., according to downdetector.com. Those outage reports declined throughout the evening. Hundreds of reports came through downdetector.com, and the Xfinity website itself showed thousands of cases across Salt Lake and Utah. A heat map showed that outages occurred in other parts of the country, too, suggesting the problem was not necessarily localized to Utah.
By Monday morning, the issue seemed to be resolved, and internet access had returned to many, though some outage reports have continued into the afternoon today.
The cause for the outage is currently unclear. Fox 13 reported that last night the Xfinity website at the time offered no specific explanation. “Our network has sustained damage that makes us unable to deliver your services,” the website proffered.
In Park City, the issue is exacerbated by the fact that Comcast/Xfinity provides internet for large parts of the area and for some areas is the de facto internet service provider.
City councilor Bill Circao took to X to voice his own frustration on his personal account. “@comcast @Xfinity @XfinitySupport Sucks for me that we have had a citywide Xfinity outage here in Park City today,” Ciraco said on X (formerly Twitter). “Sucks for that you have forced us into looking into other options. Unacceptable. Outage on a Sunday, no construction, no natural disasters, no weather issues and service has been out for at least 10 hours.”
Ciraco told The Park Record this comment was not made in his capacity as a city councilor but that he will remember this frustration.
Parkites do have access to other service providers. Ciraco said Xfinity seems to be the provider many use. “Comcast is far and away the majority of what people end up using here,” he said.
Other people took to popular social media platform Reddit to complain about Comcast advertising an Xfinity outage protection service while they were investigating the issue on Comcast’s website. “I’ve lost my internet for the last 5 hours,” user Justtrying1974 posted around 9 p.m. Sunday on the Salt Lake City subreddit, a forum for Salt Lake residents. “Comcast’s website (accessed by me phone) started to advertise a new service to give me 4 hours of outage protection for $8 a month (presumably using a cellphone or other wireless device to maintain a network). I’m angry!”
The comments echoed that frustration. Users aired their Comcast/Xfininity grievances.