Mobile phone companies will be challenged Tuesday to keep voice and data transmissions flowing as hundreds of thousands of Super Bowl celebrants descend on downtown Denver.
On a typical day, wireless services can be interrupted by equipment malfunctions, construction mishaps and sheer volume.
Thousands of users in the same proximity attempting to share photos and videos will strain the system and is likely to overload it.
"Our network team is working as quickly as possible to add capacity to our network for Tuesday," said Meagan Dorsch, a Verizon spokeswoman in Denver.
Given a short time frame to prepare, as well as the expected size of the crowd, network crews "will prepare as best they can" to meet the unusual demand, Dorsch said.