Eight companies agreed to make some of their spectrum available, the FCC said, including Comcast and Dish. Help also came from the FCC's spectrum inventory.

Officials haven't mentioned other carriers receiving additional capacity, although it won't be surprising if others follow suit. The US is facing an unprecedented situation where many people have been told to work from home to reduce the risk of infection, and in some cases can't work at all. That could put a much heavier strain on data networks across the country, limiting service at the very moment it's needed the most.