Convention communications in the age of social media

Qwest said it added about 2,600 data lines, 3,400 voice grade circuits and 140 miles of single strands of copper and coaxial cable to handle the Democratic National Convention.

The company issued a statement Friday saying it expects the volume of calls, e-mail messages, instant messages, text messages, blogs, videos, and other data to be unprecedented.

"Qwest is well prepared to handle all of the data content that will be streaming through the Democratic National Convention," said Chuck Ward, Qwest's president in Colorado. "Never before has speed played such an important role in a national convention and Qwest is excited for the world to see the capabilities of our network infrastructure."

At least 35,000 politicians, media and delegates from across the U.S. are expected to attend the Democratic National Convention 2008 next week. Much of the focus will be on presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama who is expected to capture the party's official nomination.

Qwest said it added about 2,600 data lines, 3,400 voice grade circuits and 140 miles of single strands of copper and coaxial cable.

I had not previously considered the impact of social media on the physical requirements of communications infrastructure. Hope it all works.