In the "ongoing battle for wireless network supremacy" in the NFL, the Cowboys say that they "are on top, with a big boost" from AT&T, according to Gary Jacobson of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. The Cowboys and AT&T "showed off their wireless capabilities at AT&T Stadium during a media tour Thursday." Cowboys Chief Information Officer John Winborn said that "nearly 19,000 fans at one time were connected to the stadium's Wi-Fi network through cellphones and other mobile devices" during the Thanksgiving Day game against the Raiders. Over the course of the game, "more than 32,000 fans connected." Winborn said that the Broncos "held the usage records for a couple of games before the Cowboys eclipsed them." AT&T Antenna Solutions Group VP Chad Townes said that AT&T Stadium's system has "tripled in capacity" since it opened in '09. AT&T recently "completed a major upgrade of the stadium’s Wi-Fi system, replacing 750 access points and adding 500 more for a total of 1,250." AT&T said that the DAS "has 1,000 antennas inside and around the stadium and about 26 miles of coaxial cables" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 12/13).
CHARLOTTE'S WORLD WIDE WEB: AT&T said that it has invested $500M in "cellular and Wi-Fi upgrades across Charlotte during the last three years." In Charlotte, Erik Spanberg noted an "unspecified portion of that investment" includes Bank of America Stadium. Through the first six home games in '13, fans "used 1.9 million megabytes of data on the stadium's upgraded Wi-Fi system," an increase of 50% compared from the same period last year. At the same time, wireless cellular data "jumped 90 percent over 2012 through the first six games." AT&T has "blanketed the stadium with antennas to strengthen reliability and connection times." Meanwhile, voice minutes on the cellular network at the stadium grew 32% "to 78,000 minutes during the first six games of this season." For Wi-Fi, 32,000 connections "have been made during the same period" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 12/12).
