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Cell service might stink in solar eclipse hot spot Hopkinsville, Kentucky

Posted at 9:27 AM, Aug 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-20 09:40:43-04

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Thousands of people will experience the solar eclipse together in Kentucky, but it might take a while before they can let the rest of the world know.

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Cell phone carriers are warning people to expect “network congestion” on Monday as lots of people will undoubtedly try to use their mobile phones at the same time in Hopkinsville, the small western Kentucky town that will be the point of greatest eclipse.

But the Courier-Journal reports providers are taking steps to boost capacity ahead of the celestial event.

A farm just outside of Hopkinsville will get a new sort of animal on Monday as AT&T deploys its Mega COW, short for “cell on wheels,” to boost network capacity by as much as 300 percent.