Valentine’s Day text messages arrive late

SAN FRANCISCO — Text messages received overnight on Wednesday caused confusion, misunderstandings and even alarm for some recipients.

The text messages appear to have originally been sent Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, but were received more than eight months later with Wednesday’s time stamp. The total number of messages sent due to what’s being called an “internal maintenance cycle” was 168,149, according to Syniverse, which provides technology and business services for a number of telecommunications companies.

The issue occurred across all four major carriers in the United States and affected both Apple and Android devices.

People shared their experiences about receiving delayed messages on social media and Reddit. Some said they received text messages from ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends that led to awkward conversations. Others said the messages came from relatives or friends who had since died. One person complained to Sprint’s Twitter account that her phone had sent a text to her boss in the middle of the night.

The person who originally sent the text should have a record of the message in their archives.

The carriers that have responded pointed to a “maintenance update” and a “third-party vendor.”

“Last evening, a maintenance update occurred to part of the messaging platforms of multiple carriers in the U.S., including Sprint, which caused some customers to have older text messages sent to their devices,” a Sprint spokesperson said. “The issue was resolved not long after it occurred. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.”

T-Mobile said it wasn’t an internal issue but a problem stemming from a third-party vendor that also affected its networks. A spokesperson said the issue has been resolved.

Verizon referred CNN Business to Syniverse, which confirmed it.

“We apologize to anyone who was impacted by this occurrence,” said William Hurley, chief marketing and product officer at Syniverse. “While the issue has been resolved, we are in the process of reviewing our internal procedures to ensure this does not happen again, and actively working with our customers’ teams to answer any questions they have.”

AT&T, CNN’s parent company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Apple and Google also did not immediately respond.

ABI Research, which provides research and guidance on technology, said the four major carriers announced a “crosscarrier messaging system” that is expected to launch in 2020.

“Unfortunately, in order for improvements to happen, updates need to take place. And, sometimes those updates do have a glitch or hiccup,” Leo Gergs, an ABI Research analyst, said.

Mr. Gergs also said Valentine’s Day messages were likely affected because the number of texts sent on that day is “abnormally high.”