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AmpThink, Aruba win Wi-Fi deal for Carolina Panthers’ Bank of America Stadium

December 10, 2015 by

Screen Shot 2015-12-10 at 9.29.18 PMDetails are still yet to emerge, but AmpThink and Aruba have officially won the deal to put a new 1,200-AP Wi-Fi network in the Carolina Panthers’ Bank of America Stadium for next football season.

Of course, the undefeated Panthers still have a lot left going on this season, and fans at home games will still be able to use the AT&T Wi-Fi network that has been in the stadium for several years. But as we noted in our NFL Stadium Tech roundup this season, there had been some Panther-fan grumbling about the performance of the network and stadium IT execs had been busy vetting a new provider during this past year.

Earlier today James Hammond, director of information technology for the Carolina Panthers, sent us this brief note that confirmed the selection of AmpThink and Aruba. It also confirms another primarily under-seat AP design for AmpThink, following its help in deploying the new network at Kyle Field at Texas A&M (see report out very very very soon!); it’s also another big NFL deal for Aruba (a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company), whose gear is also used at the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium. According to Hammond:

The Carolina Panthers have issued a letter of intent to award the high density Wi-Fi project to AmpThink. The deployment will utilize approximately 1,200 Aruba access points in an under-seat configuration.

More on this deal as details become available.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, DAS, Hewlett-Packard, Levi's Stadium, NFL, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

NFL Stadium Tech Reviews — NFC South

December 7, 2015 by

Editor’s note: The following team-by-team capsule reports of NFL stadium technology deployments are an excerpt from our most recent Stadium Tech Report, THE PRO FOOTBALL ISSUE. To get all the capsules in one place as well as our featured reports, interviews and analysis, download your free copy of the full report today.

NFC SOUTH

Reporting by Paul Kapustka

Screen Shot 2015-12-07 at 4.57.13 PMNew Orleans Saints
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Seating Capacity: 76,468
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

Ten years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the Superdome remains a signal of the region’s recovery. Inside the dome, the Wi-Fi installed before the most recent Super Bowl there is still going strong.

Atlanta Falcons
Georgia Dome
Seating Capacity: 71,280
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

Even as they wait for the technological wonder that is the coming next year at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (with fiber-based Wi-Fi from IBM and Corning), Falcons fans still have way better than average connectivity inside the Georgia Dome, where a Cisco-powered network provides access to mobile treats like instant replays from multiple camera angles.

Carolina Panthers
Bank of America Stadium
Seating Capacity: 74,455
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

Bank of America Stadium completely replaced its DAS solution during the offseason with a new Commscope ION-U system. The new DAS is owned by the Panthers directly and includes Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint as participants. Look for the stadium to completely replace its Wi-Fi system this coming offseason, with a new 1,200-AP network for the 2016 season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Raymond James Stadium
Seating Capacity: 65,890
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

Raymond James Stadium got free fan-facing Wi-Fi for the 2012 season, but since then we haven’t heard anything about upgrades to the system. With the college playoff championship game coming in 2017, however, you can probably expect to see connectivity improvements coming soon.

Filed Under: AT&T, Cisco, DAS, New Orleans Saints, NFL, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

SF Giants fans used 78.2 TB of Wi-Fi data at AT&T Park during 2015 season

December 2, 2015 by

The view from AT&T Park's left field corner. Photo: Paul Kapustka, MSR

The view from AT&T Park’s left field corner. Photo: Paul Kapustka, MSR

It didn’t end with a World Series championship but the 2015 season for the San Francisco Giants did see fans use 78.2 terabytes of Wi-Fi data during home games at AT&T Park, the most-ever at the venue, according to the Giants.

Bill Schlough, senior vice president and CIO for the Giants, sent over a bunch of wireless data statistics from the Giants’ season, and on both Wi-Fi and AT&T DAS usage, numbers were up significantly from the year before. In addition to the 78.2 TB of Wi-Fi data used during baseball games, Schlough said additional data used during preseason games, concerts and private parties (like the SEAT 2015 softball game!) probably added another 20+ TB to the total, putting the AT&T Park Wi-Fi usage for the year in the 100 TB range.

Anyone else out there with numbers that challenge for the total Wi-Fi season crown?

Here are some more precise measurements from the AT&T Park 2015 season, with comparisons to 2014 in parentheses:

— Average Wi-Fi Take-Rate: 34.8% (33.9% in 2014)

— Wi-Fi Traffic/Game: 966 GB (591 GB)

— AT&T DAS Traffic/Game: 264 GB (196 GB)

— Wi-Fi Traffic/Connection: +59% vs. 2014

— DAS Traffic/Connection: +35%

SEAT1

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Baseball, Cisco, DAS, Major League Baseball, San Francisco Giants, SEAT Conference, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

NFL Stadium Tech Reviews — NFC East

December 1, 2015 by

Editor’s note: The following team-by-team capsule reports of NFL stadium technology deployments are an excerpt from our most recent Stadium Tech Report, THE PRO FOOTBALL ISSUE. To get all the capsules in one place as well as our featured reports, interviews and analysis, download your free copy of the full report today.

NFC EAST

Reporting by Paul Kapustka

Dallas fan in mobile action at AT&T Stadium. Photo: Phil Harvey, MSR

Dallas fan in mobile action at AT&T Stadium. Photo: Phil Harvey, MSR

Dallas Cowboys
AT&T Stadium
Seating Capacity: 105,121
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

AT&T Stadium continues to push the envelope when it comes to wireless connectivity, perhaps no surprise given the sponsor name on the building. For 2015 the venue will have up to 2,000 Wi-Fi APs at any given time (1,900 fixed and 100 flexible for deployment where needed), making it by far the stadium with the most access points.

New York Giants
MetLife Stadium
Seating Capacity: 82,500
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

Like with the Jets, the Giants and their fans are still benefitting from the technology installed for the Super Bowl two years ago, with superb Wi-Fi and DAS coverage throughout the facility.

Philadelphia Eagles
Lincoln Financial Field
Seating Capacity: 69,176
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

One of the early Extreme deployments, the “Linc” will continue to be well-connected with Wi-Fi available to all seating areas.

Washington Redskins
FedExField
Seating Capacity: 79,000
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

After briefly considering Chinese firm Huawei for Wi-Fi last season, the Redskins pulled a reverse and instead went for a deployment led by Cisco and Verizon, now apparently with United Airlines as a service sponsor.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Cisco, Dallas Cowboys, DAS, NFL, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

AT&T upgrades DAS deployments at Florida, Kansas, Purdue, Washington State and Kentucky

November 29, 2015 by

The University of Kansas' Memorial Stadium

The University of Kansas’ Memorial Stadium

AT&T customers at a number of collegiate sporting venues may have been pleased by better connectivity this football season, thanks to a slew of upgrades to the AT&T network on distributed antenna networks in those stadiums.

According to AT&T, the carrier recently upgraded its DAS deployments at Ben Hill Griffen Stadium at the University of Florida, at Martin Stadium at Washington State University, and at the University of Kentucky’s Commonwealth Stadium. AT&T also installed neutral-host DAS deployments at the University of Kansas’ Memorial Stadium and at Ross-Ade Stadium at Purdue University.

On the pro football side, AT&T and Boingo Wireless recently added an outdoor DAS to their combined coverage at the home of the Chicago Bears, Soldier Field.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, DAS Tagged With: , , , ,

NFL Stadium Tech Reviews — NFC North

November 23, 2015 by

Editor’s note: The following team-by-team capsule reports of NFL stadium technology deployments are an excerpt from our most recent Stadium Tech Report, THE PRO FOOTBALL ISSUE. To get all the capsules in one place as well as our featured reports, interviews and analysis, download your free copy of the full report today.

NFC NORTH

Reporting by Paul Kapustka

Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, now has Wi-Fi for fans. All photos: Green Bay Packers

Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, now has Wi-Fi for fans. All photos: Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers
Lambeau Field
Seating Capacity: 80,735
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

Wi-Fi has finally come to the NFL’s frozen tundra, courtesy of a deployment from Extreme Networks and backed also by Verizon Wireless. Like in Seattle, fans in Green Bay will be able to access two separate Wi-Fi networks – one for Verizon customers, the other for all other cellular customers. Verizon is also the host of the neutral DAS, which counts AT&T as a customer. (See cover story profile.)

Chicago Bears
Soldier Field
Seating Capacity: 61,500
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

The home of Da Bears remains the only NFL stadium we know of that still charges for Wi-Fi use – the network, provided by Boingo Wireless, costs fans $1.99 per day. AT&T and Boingo also recently updated the already-robust DAS around the stadium, adding coverage for tailgating areas as well.

Detroit Lions
Ford Field
Seating Capacity: 65,000
Wi-Fi – Yes/limited (Verizon customers only)
DAS – Yes

Verizon customers at Ford Field will have access to Wi-Fi, but customers from other carriers are out of luck.

Minnesota Vikings
TCF Bank Stadium
Seating Capacity: 52,000
Wi-Fi – Limited / in select areas only
DAS – Yes

As Vikings fans wait for the opening of the new U.S. Bank Stadium – which is supposed to have the latest in stadium Wi-Fi – they will spend one more year without Wi-Fi at TCF Bank Stadium. UPDATE: According to AT&T, the DAS installed in 2014 was upgraded this season, from 10 to 17 sectors. Several Vikings home games this season have seen 200+ gigabytes of data on the AT&T network on the DAS, according to AT&T.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, DAS, Detroit Lions, NFL, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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