Sprint Steps Up Network Capacity at Cowboys Stadium for Super Bowl

By Narayan Bhat, TMCnet Contributor

U.S. telecom carrier Sprint Nextel is reinforcing its wireless network in Dallas and Fort Worth area where thousands of football fans will soon assemble to watch the Super Bowl football match at Cowboys Stadium.

Sprint (News - Alert) said it has activated two cell sites around the stadium as part of providing additional coverage and increasing capacity.

Sprint invested nearly $50 million in the past year to improve its network in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. This figure includes $2.85 million spent on telecommunications enhancements for game-day communications. An additional $2.5 million was invested to enhance coverage and capacity at additional locations throughout the area.

“We are stepping up our game this week to ensure our network is ready to handle the increased traffic that comes with the big game,” said Bob Azzi (News - Alert), senior vice president of Network - Sprint. “Hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to be in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and we want to ensure customers have the best possible wireless experience.”

The wireless carrier said it has bolstered its wireless and wireline networks to accommodate the expected increase in voice and data traffic.

Sprint has also deployed distributed antenna system (DAS) inside Cowboys Stadium to make sure that none of its customers complain of poor coverage during the match.

Apart from them, the carrier said it had also added cell sites at additional venues including: Dallas Convention Center, Hilton Anatole, Sheraton Dallas, downtown Fort Worth, and the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Meanwhile, its 4G network partner Clearwire (News - Alert) also enhanced coverage and capacity through the addition of two 4G macro sites.

The Sprint 3G network reaches more than 283 million people in more than 19,000 cities.

To find out more about Sprint, visit the company at ITEXPO East 2011. To be held Feb. 2-4 in Miami, ITEXPO (News - Alert) is the world’s premier IP communications event. Pete Weldon of Sprint is speaking during “The Future of Video Communications on Mobile Devices.” Don’t wait. Register now.