Ahead of next month’s Consumer Electronics Show, AT&T and Sprint have agreed to tap into a new network from Cox Business and tech partner InSite Wireless Group that will improve wireless coverage at the Las Vegas Convention Center, a venue that spans 3.2 million square feet.
AT&T, Sprint, and an unnamed third “major wireless carrier” have inked deals to launch services powered by Cox and InSite on a new, custom distributed antenna system (DAS) that will increase cellular network capability at the center. The new DAS, based on a network of low-powered, spatially-separated antennas and repeaters, will be completed by this time next year. Cox said the convention center’s DAS will have a capacity equivalent to 14 cell sites – enough to all carriers to serve the wireless needs of capacity crowds at LVCVA’s largest events.
The center has also has bulked up the number of WiFi access points from 166 to 2,100, which are backed by redundant Cox Business 10 Gbps fiber connections.
In August 2013, Cox Business and the LVCVA signed a seven-year contract with a three-year extension to provide wired high-speed Internet networking services and equipment, wired voice services, private network options, WiFi based wireless Internet services and TV services. The DAS element from Cox and InSite was part of that contract.
“We’ve been deploying advanced technologies at the Las Vegas Convention Center for more than two years,” Derrick R. Hill, VP of Cox Business and Hospitality Network in Las Vegas, said in a statement. “Now, with the support of our partners at InSite, our neutral host DAS will help ensure wireless carriers can provide their customers faster service and improved coverage, enhancing the overall convention center experience for attendees and exhibitors.”
Cox Business/Hospitality Network also announced it was picked as the exclusive technology integration/telecommunication services provider for the new Las Vegas Arena. The 20,000-seat venue is scheduled to open on the Las Vegas Strip in April 2016.
Cox is running a 10-Gigabit fiber optic network for the Las Vegas Arena to support wired and wireless Internet connectivity. Cox will also use Cisco’s Connected Stadium WiFi platform to operate 550 WiFi access points inside the arena.
Cox Business/Hospitality Network is also using Cisco StadiumVision to manage and target delivery of over 60 channels of high-definition news, sports and entertainment content from the Cox cable channel lineup and live in-house feeds from the arena floor to 650 digital displays throughout the arena. That video platform will be 4K-capable.
