January 21, 2009 by Matt Thomas
The four major US phone networks dealt with massive surges of activity on their wireless networks yesterday without major problems. The massive surge in activity was down to, guess who? Barack Obama.
The networks were forced to handle a concentrated period of usage from the millions of people who had flocked to Washington for the inauguration, yesterday. The only problems reported were slight difficulty in getting hold of people in Washington and a delay in the arrival of text messages. Wireless service was disturbed before the swearing in but quickly returned to normal afterwards.
To avoid a massive log-jam on the system AT&T Wireless, Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile were forced to erect auxiliary cell phone towers in and around Washington and to redirect call traffic to manage the flow throughout the day.
Thanks to this forward planning the companies were able to deal with about five times the normal call volume yesterday and still provide a service that was remarkably close to normal.
A Verizon spokeswoman had this to say,
“Even in the most crowded spectator areas nearest the inauguration stands at the US Capitol, the vast majority of calls went through on the first attempt,”
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