Is 2010 the year of wireless congestion?

It may happen for some until improvements are made to various networks

	Many of those attending the presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C. in January 2009 used their cell phone cameras to record the event. They were among the 2 million people who attended and some had problems with cell phone service because of the congestion. View related photos
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images file

By Suzanne Choney

For the last few years, wireless carriers and manufacturers have been pushing smartphones as the way to go. But now that a growing number of Americans are using them, the system seems like it's starting to choke.

New York and San Francisco are giant dead zones for many iPhone users. Research In Motion, maker of BlackBerrys, had two outages within a week recently, highly unusual for the reliable devices. Last January, some of the 2 million people attending the presidential inauguration couldn't get phone service because the area around the nation's capital was so congested with cell traffic.

Some say such congestion could be more common this year because of nearly 280 million Americans' increasing reliance on cell phones, continuing consumer demand for data-intensive mobile programs like video and audio, fourth-generation cell networks that are not in place for most of the country and inadequate wireless spectrum to meet customer needs.

AT&T, the exclusive seller of Apple's iPhone in the United States, in particular, did not adequately anticipate the device's huge popularity, critics say, making the company a victim of its success, and its customers frustrated in the process. Users around the country have complained about sometimes-spotty coverage with the phone.