A COW in Eppen's Field

Photo by Jay Thompson

(posted July 16)

This mobile cell site know as a COW (Cellsite On Wheels), parked in the former Eppen's farm land at 2000 Georgetown Road, is one of many that Sprint technicians are installing around the track for the upcoming Allstate 400.

According to Candice Johnson of Sprint public relations, about a dozen mobile sites are brought in for a typical race to add capacity to both the cellular network and Nextel's iDEN push to talk systems. These sites and increased capacity in the existing network give Sprint the ability to provide roughly 10 times their normal call volume in the Speedway area.

Anywhere from six to ten technicians spend two weeks setting up and testing the system, which includes numerous 911 calls to verify that cell phone numbers and GPS latitude and longitude information are being passed to the appropriate public safety agency.

Most locations use wired connections to the local phone system, but the trailers do have the ability to use satellite feeds if the local infrastructure can't meet the demands, or in the case where local phone service could be severely impacted by a natural disaster, such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.