The history-making inauguration of President Barack Obama also was a cell-phone test. Wireless networks braced for an onslaught of photos, text messages, video and voice communications from the millions of people attending the inauguration.
Initial reports were that cell phones in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area were buckling under the strain, with some voice communications having trouble getting through, although text messages were doing fine.
Boosting Capacity
The largest wireless carriers, AT&T and Verizon Wireless, had boosted capacity, with AT&T reporting it spent about $4 million. A Verizon spokesperson, Debra Lewis, told news media that mobile Web, e-mail and Twitter short messages were good uses of the bandwidth, and the company’s D.C. network was experiencing traffic up to five times its normal call volume. Even so, she said, most of the calls were going through on the first try.
AT&T and T-Mobile USA reported congestion on some cell towers, and said they redirected traffic to less-crowded towers.
CTIA, an industry association for wireless companies, noted a variety of steps that carriers took to address the anticipated traffic. These include adding new radio channels to supplement existing cell sites, creating additional network capacity by adding portable sites, expanding backhaul capacity and connections with the Public Switched Telephone Network, and expanding in-building wireless coverage in key buildings.
Steve Largent, CTIA’s president and CEO, said earlier that even with more capacity, there could be a traffic jam if everyone used the system at the same time.
‘Text, Don’t Talk’
Largent had suggested users text instead of making voice calls, and hold off sending photos or video. In fact, he listed several catchphrases that could become standard behavior as mass events become telecommunications crunches.
They included “Text, Don’t Talk,” “Snap and Save, Send Later,” and, to avoid losing track of your friends or family, “Have a Back-Up Plan,” such as an agreed-upon…