Mobile network operators prepared for a crush of calls, txts, pxts and tweets as more than two million people crushed into Washington DC to watch President Barack Obama’s inauguration this morning.

But their measures proved futile as wireless networks ground to a standstill.

MSNBC quotes Verizon Wireless and AT&T customers saying they can’t make voice calls at all from their cellphones, nor send pxt messages, videos or tweets (posts to the mobile blogging Twitter service).

LTE and WiMax are the two technologies poised to dominate next-generation mobile networks, says Aussie-based telco guru Paul Budde in a new report. But local LTE trialist Vodafone, and early WiMax adopter Kordia, still see the technologies as some years off.