Viral jam on cell networks

CHENNAI: If your phone repeated that annoying ‘call failed’ monotone everytime you tried calling your wife to check if she was okay, and you believed it was because everybody else was doing the same, guess again.  Apparently, a sizeable portion of the blame for mobile networks instantly clogging up after the tremors lay with all the social-media addicts who chose to Facebook and Tweet about their ‘quake-tastic’ experiences.  Vincent Jebaraj, an IT employee-cum-RJ posted minutes after the tremors, “Did anyone feel the quake in Chennai? I’m busy updating status in d midst of a quake..Lol”. Mind you, he was not alone.While telecom engineers are in agreement that the networks got jammed due to a surge in the number of calls between 2.20 pm and 6.15 pm, Satish, who works with a telecom firm on OMR opined, “The increase in the number of people using 3G phones ensured that large amounts of packet data flew through towers, clogging traffic.”