Mobile Operators Say Inauguration Will Tax Systems, Provide PR Fodder

from the no-i-can't-hear-you-now dept

Tue, Dec 16th 2008 7:56pm — Carlo Longino

Apparently there are going to be a lot of people in Washington, DC, next month, for Barack Obama's inauguration. With up to 4 million visitors coming to DC, a city with a population of 1.1 million, there's the potential for a logistical mess. But at least one group is getting out ahead of things: the nation's wireless operators, which want to assure everybody that they're beefing up capacity ahead of the event... just like they do before every Super Bowl and other events where there are predictable swells in network traffic. So, even if you aren't traveling to Washington for the inauguration, rest assured that the country's operators are looking out for you, just in case. And, of course, that they're not missing out on any chance for some PR -- even if it really just highlights their own capacity limitations. One question, though: will any of them come back after the event to detail just how many calls didn't go through on their networks during the inauguration because of capacity constraints?

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Filed Under: capacity, inauguration, mobile operators

7 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2008 @ 12:46am

until i read this part >>> One question, though: will any of them come back after the event to detail just how many calls didn't go through on their networks during the inauguration because of capacity constraints?

I was confused why you have this article, its not like TechDirt to sound like a press release.
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Mike (profile), 17 Dec 2008 @ 1:18am

Re:
I was confused why you have this article, its not like TechDirt to sound like a press release.

Perhaps Carlo was too subtle, but I thought the point he was making was to ridicule the carriers for making their own capacity failings a press release event.
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Just Another Moron in a Hurry, 17 Dec 2008 @ 5:59am

Capacity Failings?
Why is this classified as a Capacity Failing? If the D.C. area normally has only 1.1 million users, and they are handling that population without significant failed call attempts, is that really a failing? If the carriers are boosting their capacity to handle a predicted boost in population, is that really a failing? Without some actual numbers comparing the % of failed calls before and after the population boom, this sounds like good business to me. To meet the growing demands of your customers as they need it.
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DC resident, 17 Dec 2008 @ 2:21pm

DC's population is nowhere near 1.1 million. Its around 200K.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2008 @ 6:11pm

Re: Re:
i guess we got used to your style mike.
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Susan, 2 Jan 2009 @ 8:14pm

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Future generali, 1 Feb 2009 @ 9:54pm

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Thanks for posting this, any info on the subject, positive that is, will help people understand more about this subject.
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