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New 4G LTE Distributed Antenna Systems Provide Additional Wireless Capacity for Customers**
NASHVILLE, Tenn— This time of the year there is never a dull moment in Nashville, with fans of football, hockey, music, entertainment and more lining up at two of the Music City's major venues with foam fingers and glowing smartphones in hand.
As part of its continuing network investment to support growing demand for advanced wireless devices and services, AT&T* has improved its mobile Internet coverage at LP Field and Bridgestone Arena in Nashville by completing the installation of two new 4G LTE-capable Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) to enhance the customer experience throughout the venues.
A DAS installation consists of multiple strategically-placed antennas that distribute AT&T’s wireless network coverage throughout LP Field and Bridgestone Arena providing for more efficient management of wireless capacity in heavily-trafficked areas, such as major athletic venues. DAS has the ability to provide enhanced, consistent wireless coverage to customers in indoor or outdoor spaces where geographical limitations – terrain, building construction, etc. – or crowd density might otherwise prevent the optimal wireless experience.
"LP Field and Bridgestone Arena are Nashville's two main sports and music venues, and upgrading the wireless coverage at these buildings is important," Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said. "For many fans, a big part of live sports and music events is the ability to share their experience with others, and they now will have an easier time doing that in Nashville."
"When our customers go to LP Field to cheer on the Titans or Bridgestone Arena to take in a concert or root for the Predators, we want them to have a great network experience no matter what they're doing – whether that's making a call, checking email, sending a photo, downloading apps or surfing the Internet," said Gregg Morton, president, AT&T Tennessee. "AT&T invested nearly $500 million in its Nashville area wireless and wireline networks from 2009 through 2011, and we'll continue investing in order to give our customers the best possible experience. We're committed to providing enhanced wireless coverage at two of the city's major entertainment venues is just one way that we're investing in Nashville."
AT&T is an industry leader in deploying DAS solutions. DAS help address the exponential network traffic growth skyrocketing at large sporting venues. At professional football's 2012 championship game in Indianapolis, AT&T launched an expanded DAS that enabled 4G LTE coverage within the stadium. It marked the first time in the history of the "big game" that customers created and uploaded more content than they downloaded on AT&T's network. In fact, they uploaded nearly 40 percent more data then they downloaded. Data usage totaled 215 GB and nearly 725,000 text messages were sent and received across AT&T's network.
"Investment in faster and more reliable wireless networks is great news for Nashville and our fans that attend Titans games and other events at LP Field," said Don MacLachlan, executive vice president of administration and facilities, Tennessee Titans. "This is about improving connectivity and service in Music City while continuing to develop Nashville's infrastructure."
"Bridgestone Arena hosts upwards of 1.5 million guests every year," said Jeff Cogen, CEO of Bridgestone Arena and the Nashville Predators. "Whether on the floor for a concert or in a suite for a Predators game, this new distributed antenna system means Bridgestone Arena guests can better communicate using their cell phones no matter where they are on event days. We appreciate this significant network upgrade from our great partners at AT&T and look forward to working with them to further enhance the overall entertainment experience at Bridgestone Arena."
The additional capacity also is expected to help improve call reliability, boost data traffic capacity and enable more consistent network access to help customers make the most of their AT&T devices.
This unobtrusive network solution is just one innovative approach AT&T is taking to ensure it provides a seamless and effortless customer experience. AT&T's innovation and investment has resulted in the nation's largest 4G network, covering more than 285 million people with ultra-fast speeds and a more consistent user experience. That's coverage in 3,000 more 4G cities and towns than Verizon.**
AT&T has deployed two compatible 4G technologies to deliver more speed to more smartphone customers, which means AT&T customers can get 4G speeds outside of 4G LTE areas on 4G HSPA , unlike competitors, where smartphone customers fall back to slower 3G technologies when outside of LTE coverage. Our 4G LTE network delivered faster average download speeds than any of our competitors in PCWorld's most recent 13-market speed tests.
AT&T's 4G LTE network delivers speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G*, as well as multiple innovations that optimize the network for performance. Our network's radio components are placed close to the antenna at most cell sites, instead of inside the base station, which helps minimize power loss between the base station and antenna and, in turn, improves the performance of our 4G LTE network. The network also is designed with its core elements distributed across the country, which helps reduce latency, or the delay when using the Internet, because your request isn't traveling as far.
AT&T's focus to deliver the best possible mobile Internet experience goes beyond 4G and DAS to embrace additional connection technologies. AT&T operates the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network including more than 31,000 AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots at popular restaurants, hotels, bookstores and retailers across the country. Most AT&T smartphone customers get access to our entire national Wi-Fi network at no additional cost, and Wi-Fi usage doesn't count against customers' monthly wireless data plans.
Over the past five years, AT&T invested more than $115 billion into operations and into acquiring spectrum and other assets that have enhanced our wireless and wired networks. Since 2007, AT&T has invested more capital into the U.S. economy than any other public company. In a July 2012 report, the Progressive Policy Institute ranked AT&T No. 1 on its list of U.S. "Investment Heroes."
For more information about AT&T's coverage in Nashville or anywhere in the United States, consumers can visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer. For updates on the AT&T wireless network, please visit the AT&T network news page.
