Boston Officials Allegedly Shut Down Mobile Service In Boston To Prevent Remote Detonation (Update: Or Not)

from the overreaction dept

Update:: People are now reporting that it was not an intentional shut down, despite reporters claiming officials told them this. Yet again... early reporting coming out of a crazy situation turns out to not be accurate.

As I'm sure you've heard by now, there were some explosions not too long ago in Boston at the end of the Boston Marathon. Not surprisingly, this has become the important (and horrifying) news story of the day. At a time like this, there generally isn't that much news for us to report, because (1) others are doing it much better and (2) we're just as much in shock as everyone else. However, there are now some reports that part of the response by police involved shutting down mobile phone service in the Boston area to "prevent any potential remote detonations of explosives." I can certainly recognize the reasons for doing this, but it seems like an overreaction -- especially at a time when coordinating with others via mobile phone can be so important.

Filed Under: boston, boston marathon, cell service, explosions, mobile service