Embodiments herein describe a system that includes an autonomous vehicle (referred to herein as a drone) which is controlled by a self-organizing network (SON) to expand the capabilities of a cellular network in real time. In one embodiment, the SON monitors the cellular network and identifies congestion or capacity issues where the cell towers covering the geographic region may be unable to satisfy the large number of requests for data by the users in the region. Once a congestion or capacity issue is detected, the SON determines whether dispatching a drone access point (AP) may improve or resolve the issue. In one example, the drone AP is an autonomous vehicle that includes a radio that permits the drone to serve as a mobile cell site for the cellular network.