New York City Prepares For Visit Of Pope Francis
Spectators holds up cell phones in hopes of catching a glimpse of Pope Francis before he attends a prayer service at St. Patrick's Cathedral. The flood of selfies has been a challenge for wireless carriers trying to keep up with the pope's visit. (Justin Sullivan | Getty Images)
NEW YORK -- Talk about a Holy COW...
Whenever Pope Francis makes an appearance, it is often captured by thousands of spectators taking selfies of the event--and immediately sharing the photos on social media.
Enter the mobile generator-powered cell sites that wireless carriers like Verizon and AT&T literally call COWS--or Cells on Wheels--roll out for big events like the Super Bowl, natural disasters, political conventions...and special emissaries from the Vatican.
For the pope's U.S. visit, both carriers have deployed the portable truck-mounted COWs to boost their network capacity while the pontiff is in town.
"When you saw the pope going down Fifth Avenue yesterday, everyone had their hands up and it wasn't to wave," remarked AT&T spokeswoman Ellen Webner. "They all had cell phones and tablets and they're taking pictures."
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And then just as quickly, they were sharing it on social media for what many people will be a lifetime event. For the wireless carriers, that has meant a sudden surge in network load any time the popemobile is on the move.
"We're talking about a massive amount of people using their smartphones in the same place at the same time," said Webner.
Both AT&T and Verizon said in addition to the portable COWS, both took steps before the visit to make sure customers have service when they pick up their phones.
A Verizon Wireless COW, or cell on wheels. a generator-powered cell site designed to enhance network coverage. (Verizon Wireless)
Verizon Wireless already had what is known as a Distributed Antennae System installed at Madison Square Garden, where the pope will celebrate Mass this evening, to handle similar traffic generated when fans fill the arena and take photos of Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, or championship moments.
"In preparation for the pope's visit, we added additional voice and data capacity through a combination of network solutions," said Andrew Testa, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless.
Even before the papal visit, Verizon conducted a survey of American Catholics, which found that this will be a "historically unprecedented communications moment," said Testa.
The survey by KRC Research found nearly half of American Catholics use social media to keep connected with the Pope or the church, 83 percent planning to use a smartphone or tablet to stay connected to the event.
Testa said Verizon deployed several mobile COWs in the areas where papal activities are taking place, and added voice and data capacity along the Central Park parade route, the 9/11 Memorial, St. Patrick's Cathedral and around Madison Square Garden.
"We expect there to be more traffic than usual, but we're ready for it," he said. "Our network teams have been working around the clock with officials in New York City, as well has Philadelphia and Washington DC to develop additional plans to support the Pope's visit."
AT&T, which also has a distributed indoor antenna system in Madison Square Garden for to help with in-building wireless coverage, said it is closely monitoring network traffic patterns at its network operations center in Bedminster during the pope's visit.
"It's mostly data," said Webner. "I don't think a lot of people are making phone calls right now. They're sending pictures.
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.