Texas A&M has "teamed up" with Corning Optical Communications and IBM to install the "most powerful Wi-Fi system of any football stadium" at Kyle Field, according to Joshua Siegel of the Bryan-College Station EAGLE. Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp: "It's also a system that we think will be put into professional stadiums, but we'll have it before anybody else does." Corning Dir of Wireless Business Development Todd Christner said that the system includes "1,090 antennas throughout the stadium." Texas A&M during the '14 season "exceeded 100,000 attendees for all six of its home games when only half of the stadium was wired with Wi-Fi" (Bryan-College Station EAGLE, 4/25). Sharp said that Kyle Field after its $485M renovation "will be better" than both AT&T Stadium and NRG stadium. Bryan College-based KBTX-CBS reported Kyle Field is "definitely attracting attention from NFL teams because of the high-tech cell system." Sharp said that IBM "has come up with a solution that does not exist on any college campus." He added that only the 49ers "have anything like it." Christner said that the system "can handle 100,000 simultaneous Wi-Fi users." He added that fans "will experience better battery life" due to the plethora of antennas. Christner: "If you come to the stadium with a full charge, it should last the whole game." Sharp said that the project is "on time, and even ahead in some aspects." Sharp: "It's going to be the most impressive college sports venue in the country. We're going to have a lot of things that no other stadium has" (KBTX.com, 4/24). Populous Associate Principal Craig Kaufman, whose company is overseeing the stadium upgrades, said, "We've basically turned a renovation project into a brand new building" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 4/25).
