[tptacek]

Has any named official confirmed the cell service shutdown? I'm hearing the opposite.

The original shutdown report I heard was attributed to an unnamed BPD source. This is obviously a particularly easy rumor to spread when the networks are all jammed up with callers.

[garretruh]

You might be right. It's contradicted by both Sprint and Verizon here: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/official-cellphone-service-sh...

Edit: And, it seems, AT&T: https://twitter.com/ATT/status/323915702132150272

[mbreese]

NBC just reported that AT&T was urging people to use text messages to avoid congestion on their network. So, it's probably a capacity issue.

[andrewhillman]

I live in Boston. Mobile service is running.

[thadk]

You can locally jam cell phone frequencies without involving the operators--seems like that'd be default bomb squad kit. I was along the racetrack at mile 23 and signal and data were extremely poor starting 10-15 minutes after the event--The local cells of the network could also have been simply overloaded.

[oasisbob]

The AP has walked back that article -- headline now reads "Cellphone use heavy, but still operating in Boston". I don't see any note of a retraction or correction.

Anyone know of any good resources to explain when news organizations find it ethical to transparently change articles like this, and when it isn't?