US wireless cos gear up for Obama traffic

Wireless companies in the United States have invested significant amount of money to upgrade their network capacities in and around Washington to accommodate the expected surge in demand during the 44th presidential Inauguration ceremony.

"For months, wireless carriers have been working hard to prepare for what could be an unprecedented Inauguration week," CTIA, the international association for wireless telecommunications president and CEO Steve Largent said.

Companies have gone extraordinary lengths investing significant amounts of time and money, and are doing everything within their power to boost network capacities in Washington, DC for this historic event, Largent added.

The official inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States would take place on Tuesday, and is expected to attract a crowd of up to two million people.

Anticipating record-breaking crowds, carrier companies have deployed additional technicians to monitor their networks and are taking all available steps to address capacity issues.

Largent further said "despite all the industry's efforts to increase network capacity, its really important for the public to understand that unusually large crowds can generate congestion and communications delays".

In a bid to counter cell-phone traffic congestion during the presidential inaugural ceremony, CTIA has asked people to send text messages and e-mails than making a call. "Snap and Save, Send Later" as sending cell phone photos and video require large amounts of bandwidth on mobile networks, the wireless association said.

"We want to remind Inaugural event attendees to do their part in decreasing network demand by texting instead of placing calls and holding off on sending cell phone pictures or video until after the events is over," he said.