CoWs, CoLTs, SatCoLTs

Cells on Wheels, Cells on Light Trucks, and Satellite Cell Sites on Light Trucks – mobile installations that boost cellphone networks to meet high demand.

Cellphone carriers are accustomed to accommodating demand spikes surrounding major sporting (Super Bowl), civic (New Year’s Eve), news (9/11), and religious (the Hajj) events.

However, ahead of Barack Obama’s inauguration, C.T.I.A. - The Wireless Association released the following statement:

In anticipation of record-breaking crowds and huge spikes in wireless traffic, carrier companies are deploying additional technicians to monitor their networks and work with all government agencies involved in the Inauguration events, and they are taking all available steps to address capacity issues.

These steps included “adding new radio channels to augment existing cell sites” and “provisioning additional portable sites, such as COWS (Cells on Wheels) and COLTS (Cells on Light Trucks) to increase network capacity.”