Boingo Wireless

Stadium Tech Report: Atlanta Hawks’ Philips Arena signs Boingo for DAS, Wi-Fi

June 6, 2014 by Paul Kapustka 2 Comments

Philips Arena. Credit: Atlanta Hawks.

As the central event stadium of its kind in the region, Atlanta’s Philips Arena is well known for the entertainment options it offers, from professional sports to concerts, ice-show extravaganzas and even the circus. What it didn’t want to continue to be known for was its inability to provide service when fans at the stadium tried to connect to the Internet.

“We wanted to avoid the spinning [timeout] wheel of death,” said Andrew Steinberg, senior vice president and chief revenue officer for the Atlanta Hawks and for Philips Arena, in a recent phone interview. Home to the NBA’s Hawks, Philips stood out as one of just six NBA arenas without fan-facing Wi-Fi services, and with no cellular DAS.

That will change soon, thanks to a deal Philips signed with Boingo Wireless to provide free fan Wi-Fi and a neutral host DAS for the facility by the start of the next NBA season.

Andrew Steinberg

According to Steinberg, the area’s well-connected citizens, who probably trail only California’s Silicon Valley in devices per person, weren’t happy when they tried to access their social networks at Philips.

“We know people are coming to arena have been very challenged, just to tweet or post a picture to Instagram,” Steinberg said. “We needed to correct that.”

The process to do so actually started a couple years ago, when the Philips IT team put out a request for proposals that was very detailed in nature. “We wanted a robust backbone and infrastructure, and we were very thorough,” said Steinberg about the review process. “We wanted to find the best solution. And Boingo [Wireless] had the best fit for our plans.”

Neutral DAS a necessity

Philips Arena

One of the requirements for Philips was that its DAS host needed to be a neutral third party, and not a single carrier. “I much prefer a neutral host DAS,” said Steinberg. “I’ve seen it done different ways. What I prefer is a best in class solution from a partner who can further engage the carriers.”

Boingo, Steinberg said, “delivered on that promise” and will have all the major carriers online when the DAS deployment is ready to go for the next NBA season.

Doug Lodder, vice president of business development at Boingo Wireless, said Steinberg and the Hawks were “very thorough” with their request for technology. “They took the time and did due diligence – they were way out in front of most venues [in their proposals],” Lodder said.

According to Steinberg, the infrastructure at Philips – which opened in 1999 – presented no special challenges to deployment. There was even plenty of space on site for the DAS head end, which is sometimes a challenge for stadium retrofits.

If there is a challenge, it could come from Boingo’s crews having to work around the extensive activity schedule at Philips, which includes concerts, games, and even the occasional “mudder” race with mud pits and obstacles. According to Steinberg, the arena averages about 130 events a year. But Lodder said Boingo is used to such deployment scheduling. “We can do three shifts in a row if needs be,” Lodder said.

Build it, then you can use it

Even though Philips hasn’t had high-end connectivity, that doesn’t mean Steinberg and his team haven’t been looking at what a good network will allow them to do.

“One of the foremost challenges is to increase revenue while improving the fan experience,” said Steinberg, “while also keeping the fans engaged with the game or event.”

From activities like seat upgrades to future apps, Steinberg said the Philips team knew they needed a good network, as soon as possible.

“The fan engagement potential and opportunities are large, but they require the necessity of connectivity,” said Steinberg. “We have a robust tech roadmap, and having connectivity like this was something we felt was paramount.”

Especially so in an area like Atlanta, which has more than its share of people whose lives already revolve around connectivity. Steinberg said that expectation shouldn’t end just because those people wanted to attend an event at Philips.

“We want people to experience a seamless transition from their office to our venue, and not have a disconnect,” Steinberg said.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Basketball, DAS, MSR Guides, Wi-Fi Tagged With: 4G LTE, Atlanta Hawks, Boingo Wireless, DAS, Mobile Sports Report, NBA, Paul Kapustka, Philips Arena, Stadium Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi

Boingo bags DAS for Zags

June 4, 2014 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

McCarthey Athletic Center, Gonzaga University. Credit: Gonzaga Athletics

Boingo Wireless bagged two more deals to deploy neutral-host DAS installations, including one at the home of Gonzaga University’s McCarthey Athletic Center, according to a release from the company.

Boingo, which is on a bit of a roll with contract wins for DAS and Wi-Fi deployments in stadiums, said it will be the exclusive DAS host partner for both the 6,000-seat McCarthey Center — home of the well-known men’s and women’s basketball teams from Gonzaga — as well as the nearby Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash. According to the Boingo release, the Veterans Memorial Arena seats more than 12,000 fans, and is home to the Spokane Chiefs Hockey Club of the Western Hockey League and the Spokane Shock of the Arena Football League. The Spokane Arena is the also the largest entertainment venue in the region, and according to the release hosts more than 120 major events a year.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Basketball, DAS, Wi-Fi Tagged With: Boingo Wireless, Bulldogs, DAS, Gonzaga University, Mobile Sports Report, Spokane, Wi-Fi, Zags

Atlanta Hawks, Philips Arena sign with Boingo for DAS and stadium Wi-Fi

May 21, 2014 by Paul Kapustka 1 Comment

Boingo Wireless continued its deal-winning streak by signing up another NBA stadium for Wi-Fi and DAS services, this time the Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena. One of just six NBA facilities that didn’t yet have Wi-Fi, the 18,118-seat Philips will now have fan-facing Wi-Fi by the start of the next NBA season, according to a press release from Boingo.

We’ll follow up with the Boingo and Philips folks to get some more in-depth information (and maybe to find out why Philips hadn’t had Wi-Fi before now) but the deal is another in a recent string of contract wins for Boingo, the provider formerly known mainly for its Wi-Fi services in airports. A DAS deployment at Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City, a Wi-Fi and DAS deal for the Air Force Academy, and a Wi-Fi and DAS deal for the University of Houston are all recent Boingo wins, showing that the company is serious about becoming a player in stadium wireless services.

Filed Under: Atlanta Hawks, Basketball, DAS, NBA, Wi-Fi Tagged With: Atlanta Hawks, Boingo Wireless, DAS, Mobile Sports Report, NBA, Paul Kapustka, Philips Arena, Stadium Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi

Stadium Tech Report: Utah Jazz, Boingo Wireless bring DAS to Energy Solutions Arena

May 8, 2014 by Paul Kapustka 2 Comments

Energy Solutions Arena. Credit, all photos: Utah Jazz

With a big new video board added this year, the Energy Solutions Arena had taken a signficant step toward improving the experience for fans at Utah Jazz basketball games. But when those fans went to look at the small screens in their hands, they often experienced frustration.

“It’s really important to our fans to be able to text or post something to Facebook,” said Jamie Galileo, vice president for facilities at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. But without Wi-Fi or a modern distributed antenna system (DAS) in the building, sometimes fans were left disconnected.

“Even our employees were able to watch the [cellular] service degrade quite sharply during games,” Galileo said. Next year, that shouldn’t be a problem thanks to the new neutral-host DAS currently being installed at Energy Solutions Arena by Boingo Wireless. With the ability to support all major carriers and their new 4G LTE technology, the new DAS should significantly improve connectivity at Jazz games and other events inside the 19,911-seat arena.

DAS first, Wi-Fi maybe later

Opened in 1991 (known then as the Delta Center), the Jazz’s home is one of the few NBA arenas without advanced wireless connectivity. One of only six NBA arenas without fan-facing Wi-Fi, Energy Solutions Arena is still studying Wi-Fi deployment, Galileo said.

Jamie Galileo

Wi-Fi is still “something to look at,” Galileo said. “We want to first get past [installing] the DAS, and see what that does for the fan base.”

Through this past NBA season, fans at the arena had limited enhanced connectivity. According to Galileo, the building only had small DAS-style infrastructures for Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile customers, and an older system for AT&T customers that was installed prior to the 2002 Winter Olympics, when the arena was used for figure skating and short-track speed skating competition.

“There was some legacy DAS equipment [in the building],” Galileo said. “But you wouldn’t consider it a DAS by today’s technology.”

Neutral host was key

After what Galileo called an extensive RFP and review, Boingo Wireless was chosen for the DAS deployment, which is scheduled to be ready for the start of the next NBA season, beginning in the fall. According to Galileo, Boingo’s ability to be a neutral host was extremely attractive to Energy Solutions Arena.

“Neutral was the key word,” Galileo said. “We did not want to have every carrier have its own antennas. One set of antennas is much easier to blend in.”

Inside shot of Energy Solutions Arena, with big new video board

Doug Lodder, vice president of business development at Boingo Wireless, said Energy Solutions Arena has good cabling runs, which should make deployment of the DAS a fairly straightforward task.

“The bowl is always challenging,” said Lodder, who added that Energy Solutions Arena’s somewhat vertical shape of its main seating area might mean a little extra deployment work for Boingo engineers. And while no major carriers have yet signed deals to be on the DAS, Lodder is confident that most will want to have a presence in the building and will sign on before the Jazz start playing again.

“The demand is very high to be in a tier 1 NBA building,” Lodder said.

Galileo said that the arena has plenty of room for the DAS head end equipment, a space requirement that is sometimes challenging for older structures.

“We are on 3.5 acres of a 10-acre site,” Galileo said, “so we have some auxiliary areas. We won’t have to build out additional [head end] space.”

Between Jazz games and other events, Galileo said that Energy Solutions Arena typically has guests in the building 100 times a year. It is also a regular host to NCAA basketball tournaments, and Galileo said the new connectivity should help with future bids.

“It doesn’t hurt to have a DAS,” he said.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Basketball, DAS, MSR Guides, NBA, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi Tagged With: 4G LTE, AT&T, Boingo Wireless, DAS, Energy Solutions Arena, Mobile Sports Report, NBA, Paul Kapustka, Salt Lake City, stadium DAS, Stadium Wi-Fi, Utah Jazz, Verizon Wireless

Boingo adds University of Houston to growing stadium Wi-Fi and DAS customer list

May 6, 2014 by Paul Kapustka 1 Comment

University of Houston stadium rendering. Credit: University of Houston

Boingo Wireless, once known best for its Wi-Fi deployments in airports, is rapidly building up a big resume of stadium customers for Wi-Fi and DAS installations. The latest in a string of recent announcements is a Wi-Fi and DAS deployment deal for the new University of Houston football stadium, a 40,000-seat facility scheduled to open for the 2014 college season.

We’re working on setting up a call with the Houston folks to learn more about their deployment plans but in the meantime you can peruse the Boingo press release as well as the website about the new stadium, which has been under construction for a few years. Like the deployment underway at the Air Force Academy, Boingo’s wireless plans for Houston include a neutral third-party DAS installation as well as Wi-Fi for fans at the stadium as well as for internal stadium operations.

“A world-class facility like the Houston Football Stadium requires a state-of-the-art wireless network on par with major league venues,” said Mack Rhoades, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of Houston, in a prepared statement complete with a bad sports/Wi-Fi metaphor that publicity people just can’t resist. “Boingo brings experience in managing networks for professional and university stadiums and arenas nationwide, and they’ll provide a comprehensive wireless solution that’ll keep Cougars’ alumni, fans and staff connected from kick-off to the final touchdown.”

Like we said, more soon when we speak with the folks from U of H.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, DAS, NCAA Football, Wi-Fi Tagged With: 4G LTE, Boingo Wireless, DAS, Mobile Sports Report, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi, stadium wireless, University of Houston

Stadium Tech Report: Boingo brings Wi-Fi, DAS to Air Force Academy stadiums

April 22, 2014 by Paul Kapustka 1 Comment

Falcon Stadium, Air Force Academy

Perched dramatically in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the architectural gem known as Falcon Stadium is a great place to watch Air Force Academy football games. As a place to install a new wireless network, however, it’s not quite a beautiful site.

“It looks beautiful from the highway, but it’s not modern,” said Dermot “Derm” Coll, CEO of the Air Force Academy Athletic Corporation, in a recent phone interview. Though its many of its 46,692 seats offer soaring views across the field and across the plains and foothills just north of Colorado Springs, Coll said the stadium, which was built in 1962, was something of a black hole when it came to cellular or wireless communications.

Over the past few years as smartphones have become popular, Coll said fans were frustrated by their inability to make calls or connect to the Internet, and even staffers on site couldn’t communicate wirelessly. “Fans wanted to do what they do at home, so we saw a great need” for better connectivity, Coll said. And thanks to a new deal with Boingo Wireless, fans and cadets and any other visitors to Air Force Academy sports facilities will soon have both high-speed Wi-Fi and cellular DAS connectivity, which should make communications as pleasing as the mile-high views. In addition to Falcon Field, the deal also calls for Wi-Fi and DAS networks inside the AFA’s Cadet Field House, a cavernous 1960s-era building that hosts a basketball arena, a hockey arena and an indoor track.

Historic landmark status a challenge

Coll, who runs the organization that deals with all the business activities for Air Force athletics, said that signing the deal was the easy part of the long-planned installation. What proved tougher was bringing new wireless technology to facilities that were not only built in the ’60s, but also had historical landmark status.

“It was really challenging just to do things like run cable,” said Coll. “We had to be a little bit creative.”

Clune Arena, Air Force Academy

Doug Lodder, vice president of business development at Boingo Wireless, said installers had to hide some Wi-Fi antennas behind specially designed shielding that sported the Air Force Academy lightning-bolt logo, so as to blend in with Falcon Stadium’s distinctive architecture. “There were not a lot of places to hang stuff,” Lodder said.

For the 5,900-seat Clune Arena for basketball and the 2,500-seat Cadet Ice Arena, there were similar challenges. “The Fieldhouse is pretty old and dated, a real Cold War building,” Coll said. “It was not great for tech to prosper there.”

Yet to show how tech-savvy fans have become, Coll said that a small Wi-Fi network installed for internal use was seen by fans who were looking for SSIDs they could connect to.

“We got beat up because people could see the SSID and wanted access to the [internal] Wi-Fi,” Coll said. “So we knew fans had the desire to connect.”

Boingo’s airport rep helps land the deal

When it came to finding a provider for the DAS, Coll said the Academy wanted a neutral third-party host and Boingo fit that bill.

“Boingo gave us a great opportunity without having to go with one carrier over another,” Coll said. Though carrier hosts will often pledge that all their competitors will be welcome to join a carrier-built DAS, Coll didn’t want to have to worry about whether negotiations might keep one provider or another from joining the enhanced cellular network.

“You don’t want to [have to] hope your carrier is on the tower,” Coll said.

Boingo, which provides Wi-Fi service to Denver International Airport, was no stranger to Coll and the Academy.

Cadet Field House, Air Force Academy

“We knew their reputation, and they brought a lot to the table,” Coll said. The network at the Academy facilities will be free of charge, unlike some other Boingo public Wi-Fi deployments (such as at Chicago’s Soldier Field) where fans are charged a small amount for network access. The network inside Falcon Stadium is scheduled to be live in time for this year’s spring graduation ceremonies; Coll said the Academy is also looking into the possibility of having Boingo provide more wireless services to the rest of the campus, which is widely spread out through the hillsides just north of Colorado Springs.

Though the Academy has a game-day app, according to Coll you couldn’t really do much with it at the stadium because of the connectivity problems. In the near future, Coll said the idea is to bring more live info to the app, including updated stats and video replays.

“In the past you could sit in Falcon Stadium and launch the app, and not much would happen,” Coll said. “Now we’re looking forward to seeing it perform on game day.”

Filed Under: 4G LTE, DAS, MSR Guides, NCAA Football, Wi-Fi Tagged With: 4G LTE, Air Force Academy, Boingo Wireless, Cadet Fieldhouse, Clune Arena, DAS, Falcon Stadium, Falcon Stadium Wi-Fi, Mobile Sports Report, NCAA Football, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi