Miserable in a crowd?

Question

Last night I went to a college football game with about 75,000 others. I might as well have left my IP at home for all the good it did. The stadium featured free wifi and I also had a solid 3G signal with most if not all the bars visible.
Still, I was NOT able to make any phone calls nor was I able to do any internet surfing (either with the wifi or 3G). I'm suspecting there were just too many ATT phones in the group in the active mode. My brother who was sitting next to me was able to send/receive text messages with his 3G S, but I wasn't able to connect until I got about 2 miles away from the stadium. I did do one reboot to see if that would make a difference. Now I understand why the San Francisco people hate ATT and the IP.

Answer 1

I understand about ATT. However, I saw many people around me using their cellphones throughout/and around me throughout the game. I have no idea as to which carriers they were using, but I'm guessing Verizon, et al with the ATT people out of luck.
Unbelievable and sad really IMO that so many people were using their cell phone during a FOOTBALL game. And you are correct, you don't know which carriers they were using which may have been AT&T. Each cell tower with EVERY carrier has a limit in regards to the number of cell phones that can place or receive calls, the same for SMS/MMS, and for internet access at the same time. If the so many people around you that were using their cell phones if they were actually using it to exchange SMS/MMS and for internet access (instead of just trying to do so at the time) are Verizon subscribers, then there weren't many Verizon subscribers out of the 75,000 people at the game that were doing so at the same time. *Each cell tower with EVERY carrier has a limit in regards to the number of cell phones that can place or receive calls, the same for SMS/MMS, and for internet access at the same time.* How do you know all these people around you at a FOOTBALL game of all things (un-believable and sad) were actually using their phone - for a call, actually exchanging SMS/MMS, or actually accessing the internet or were they just trying to?
Re wifi, I really didn't expect to be able to access it with that many people around so I don't have any complaints there other than to mention it was available.
The very same applies to the number of cell phone towers available with a particular carrier at a particular location and the number of people with the same carrier who are actively trying to place a call or that have received a call, are exchanging SMS/MMS, or actively accessing the internet. There is a limit for the number of subscribers that can do the same when connected to a particular tower - all have limits with EVERY carrier. Out of 75,000 people at a FOOTBALL game trying to exchange SMS/MMS and access the internet that can't keep from doing this for a few hours and enjoy/pay attention to the game that is in front of them, apparently a large percentage are AT&T subscribers.
Unless AT&T provides temporary towers during each game at that location or permanent towers around the football stadium for only 5 or 6 home games a year, if there are a large number of AT&T subscribers out of 75,000 actively using and trying to use their iPhone or any cell phone during a football game, there will be problems. The very same applies to Verizon, to Sprint, and to T-Mobile.