Verizon enhances by 450% its Houston network wireless data capacity

Verizon customers attending the biggest sporting event of the year can count on high quality connectivity while at NRG stadium and the series of events surrounding Super Bowl LI.

Enhancements to Verizon’s network at and around the stadium, Super Bowl Live area, transportation hubs, hotels and popular tourist areas will provide a 450% increase in capacity and increase in coverage for event attendees and for area customers after the festivities.

Hundreds of Verizon employees have worked for nearly two years to prepare for Super Bowl LI, boosting network performance in major gathering locations throughout Houston, popular traffic routes in the city, major area airports and several hotels. Here are some of the enhancements visitors and residents will benefit from:

• Built 23 new permanent cell sites
• Installed 220+ permanent small cells installed
• Doubled capacity through major routes in and out of downtown
• Deployed 24 Nodes on Wheels (NOWs) to increase capacity and coverage
• Deployed three channel carrier aggregation leading to greater network peak speeds
• Positioned Mobile cell sites throughout the city
• Installed an antenna system  to reach the lower stadium seats

220+ small cells “densify the network”

The deployment of 220+ small cells is a significant permanent investment in Houston and will service the city for years to come. These small cells are short range cell sites that consist of a radio, antenna, power and a fiber connection.

They are strategically positioned within Verizon’s existing network coverage area to add additional 4G LTE capacity where it’s needed – in heavy traffic areas. The coverage area can range from a few hundred feet to upwards of 1,000 ft. This small focused footprint allows more consumers to stream video or share memories during events.

LTE Advanced enhancement: 50% greater peak data speeds

Verizon has also deployed three-channel carrier aggregation (LTE Advanced) in the Houston area to enhance peak data speeds. This is a further enhancement to the nationwide August rollout of two-channel aggregation, providing 50% greater peak speeds in Houston and in cities nationwide.

Coverage in underground tunnels

Residents and visitors to Houston can utilize their wireless devices on a state-of-the-art distributed antenna system (DAS) installed in the underground tunnels. The DAS drastically improves wireless service along the more than six mile tunnel route, which boasts 43 buildings including office towers, restaurants and retail stores.

The thousands of pedestrians who travel through the tunnels daily can expect to make and receive calls and text messages and surf the web with more consistency.

Specific network solutions deployed

At last year’s Super Bowl, attendees at Levi stadium used seven TB of data during the game and over 68 TB of data throughout the nine-day event. With the continued evolution of wireless technology and the increase in data usage trends, we anticipate even greater reliance on wireless technology during this year’s game and events.