For wireless carriers, the companies that provide cellular service for smartphone users, it is a worst-case scenario. Some kind of catastrophe occurs, and wireless networks bog down, depriving first responders of communications capabilities as they scramble to save lives.
Such an eventuality is top of mind for carriers like Verizon Wireless, which have spent years preparing for today's Super Bowl in Minneapolis and the extra demands about 1 million additional phone users have been putting on their networks in the Twin Cities this past week.
And that's just for starters. If something terrible happens, "additional volume could overwhelm the system, and people would lose communications," said Diana Scudder, Verizon network assurance director for the carrier's North Central Market. "It's critical that public safety doesn't lose that capability."
So, in addition to big improvements Twin Cities cellular networks have undergone ahead of the big game, the big-four carriers — AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon — have been on high alert.
Verizon, for instance, has set up a "mission control" facility not far from U.S. Bank Stadium with about 150 engineers monitoring dozens of computer monitors and TV-style displays. The engineers have been divided into two groups that handle "defense" (the monitoring of the network and spotting of any potential problems) and "offense" (the scrambling of resources to deal with those network problems).
Those in the command center are being aided by "walk testers" — field engineers conducting testing as they move about, and relaying potential anomalies to those back at home base.
"If the network even sneezes, we are going to know about it," Scudder said.
The other wireless carriers are marshaling their resources in comparable fashion, but Verizon has an added responsibility. As the company responsible for the U.S. Bank Stadium's "distributed antenna system" upon which all the carriers piggyback to provide wireless service inside the vast facility, Verizon also has to continually monitor its installations there.
Those, notably, include its "head-end" equipment room. A huge television monitor at mission control shows that room from up to 16 angles.
Here's what the other wireless carriers said they are doing to keep their eyes on their networks and be ready for just about anything:
AT&T said it has a command center in Minneapolis with assists from its Global Technology Operations Center in Bedminster, N.J., as well as from roving engineers in the Twin Cities.
"We're on site at all the major venues and events around town," said Mark Giga, the carrier's lead public relations manager in the Twin Cities.
Sprint said it is monitoring Twin Cities conditions from its Network Operations Center in Overland Park, Kan.
"We have deployed engineers throughout (Minneapolis) and will have several inside the stadium (today) to ensure our network is operating at peak levels," said John Votava, director of public relations and community affairs for Sprint's West Area.
Sprint also has a role at Minneapolis' Multi Agency Command Center. One of its Magic Box portable cellular transmitters has been set up there for potential use by emergency responders over the weekend.
T-Mobile has an east-metro presence via a Super Bowl command center it has set up at its major switching facility in Eagan.
"T-Mobile engineers will be on the ground across the metro area and in the stadium, but network performance will be collected and managed from the Eagan location," said Joel Rushing, senior communications manager.