January 16, 2009
Why Obama's Cell Calls Will Never Fail
Interesting insight from CBS News, on why Obama's cell calls will never fail.
After Barack Obama is sworn in next week, he'll be able to enjoy one of the lesser-known benefits of the presidency: phone calls that always go through.
That means no more "all circuits are busy" messages. And no waiting for calls to be completed as millions of people crowd into Washington during the inauguration and jam overburdened cell phone towers, despite what have been practically heroic efforts on the part of carriers to add capacity.
It may sound a bit like a storyline from "The West Wing," but there actually is a branch of the government called the National Communications System tasked with ensuring that telecommunications related to "national security" remain intact and ready to use. President Kennedy created NCS in 1963, and its mandate has expanded to include high-priority Internet and mobile phone calls too.
Image from gregman4's photostream on flickr.
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