Additional staff are standing by as well, and Sprint has 25,000 cell phones ready to loan if needed.

Sprint saw a 200% increase in cellular usage in Grant Park the night of Barack Obama's victory address and "everything went beautifully," Taylor noted.

The 90% increase in iDEN capacity is meant to make sure first responders have plenty of capacity, Taylor added. "We want to make sure they can respond to any emergency, whether it's an Obama well-wisher having a heart attack, crowds pushing at a subway stop or a bomb threat at the Capitol. We've taken every precaution."

The CTIA said if high volumes of traffic cause network disruptions, it is best to text instead of talk and to take photos on camera phones and then save them, rather than sending them right away.

Finally, the CTIA urged cell phone users to have a backup plan if cell coverage fails, such as arranging in advance a place and time to meet your group.