Carriers brace for Inauguration

Dec 29 2004 - 08:40 PM ET | In The News
US wireless carriers are working to add more network capacity around Washington D.C. in preparation for the Presidential Inauguration. New to this Inauguration is widespread use of camera phones--analysts expect lots of MMS messages to be flying out of the city on January 20th. There are also the many BlackBerry addicted VIPs which D.C. is famous for. bq. Several hundred thousand VIPs, protesters, police officers and onlookers are expected to make cellular calls on Jan. 20 from along the parade route, convention halls and hotel lobbies in and around the District. They'll also be sending pictures, messages and e-mail -- all of which create a heavy volume of wireless traffic that eats up network capacity.