230+ small cells: target capacity where needed

If you are one of the one million visitors expected to enjoy the festivities in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Verizon’s small cells add the big capacity needed for more people to share their experiences. Small cells are designed to blend into the urban landscape, literally “hiding in plain sight” on street lights, traffic signals or utility poles, and provide 4G LTE coverage for a radius of approximately 1,000 feet. Small cells bring the fiber connections and network “densification” needed to enable Smart Cities technology (like managing traffic flow) and the next generation network, 5G. As part of our Smart Communities work with the city of Minneapolis, we’ve also installed security cameras on street lights with our small cells in the downtown area to help the city ensure the best experience possible for fans and citizens.

Super Bowl LIVE: unique bus shelter design

For 10 days, Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis will be the site of the free football festival Super Bowl LIVE, presented by Verizon. In addition to small cells serving the downtown area, Verizon doubled network capacity by adding new small cells inside the bus transit shelters along the Mall. This unique design solution will provide more capacity for the anticipated crowds during Super Bowl LIVE and serve you along the bus transit routes in the future.

U.S. Bank stadium: state-of-the-art DAS system

For game day, Verizon built a neutral host state-of-the-art network system when the new tech-advanced U.S. Bank stadium opened in 2016 for the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority. We added 48 percent more antennas in 2017 with innovative design solutions exclusively for your connectivity, including drink rail, handrail and under the seat antennas.

The capacity will be needed – wireless data usage inside at 2017 Vikings regular season home games was double the fan usage compared to the 2016 season. At last year’s Super Bowl game day, Verizon customers increased usage by 57 percent, consuming 11 terabytes of wireless data, with 45% of the stadium attendees using our network.

The stadium DAS system Verizon built is one of the largest in the U.S. and Verizon customers will be connected by more than 1,200 antennas distributed over more than 100 coverage zones. A similar outdoor stadium DAS provides coverage at the east entrance, light rail station and west plaza area. In the first indoor use at an NFL stadium, two Matsing Ball antennas (that appear like giant white disco balls) are installed 330 feet above the field on the ridge beam. They provide coverage by dividing the field into sectors, like slices of a pie, for Super Bowl photographers and staff, and for you at popular concerts with floor seating.