Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/562181
W i r e l e s s W o r l d W e d n e s d a y, S e p t e m b e r 9 , 2 0 1 5 1 2 DELIVERING ALL-STAR COVERAGE AT GREAT AMERICAN BALL PARK Great American Ball Park is a Major League baseball stadium located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the home field of the Cincinnati Reds, with seating capaci- ty of 42,319. It opened in 2003, replacing Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium), which had been their home field from June 1970 to 2002. Wireless technology is a must-have for sports venues, changing the way spectators experience live entertainment. Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio understood the need for facility- wide wireless voice and data solutions to improve communication and provide a richer, more exciting fan experience. Prior to the start of the 2014 baseball sea- son, it worked with the wireless carriers to enhance wireless coverage and increase data connectivity throughout the facility. Covering All the Bases In order to improve performance of its net- work within the stadium, a Tier 1 carrier released a request for proposal to find a sys- tems integrator with extensive experience with the construction, deployment, com- missioning and optimization of a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) in large venues. BlueStream was the clear choice. Its experience with large scale DAS deployments, turnkey capabilities and its ability to support the aggressive project delivery schedule, assured BlueStream was ready to go to bat for the carrier. With the start of the baseball season right around the corner, BlueStream set the project in motion. Using an existing design incorporating a SOLiD solution, BlueStream established a functioning connection between the BTS and the DAS demonstrating system functionality and compliance to maximize coverage and capacity objectives – while interact- ing properly with the Macro system. The deployment features an arsenal of fiber- efficient, high-power remotes in lock- able, NEMA-rated water-tight enclosures securely mounted on various public areas throughout the stadium. The SOLiD equipment powers nine sectors designed for capacity offload, allowing users to have 4G LTE speeds. Every sector has at least two or three 20-watt remotes that cover a couple levels of seating with six to eight antennas for each. All in all, the stadium-wide installation included over 250+ antennas and 55,000 feet of coax strategically placed throughout the park. The system provides an efficient management of wireless capacity in heavi- ly-trafficked areas, allow- ing fans to use voice and data services, even during capacity- crowd events. Fans can use their cell phones, send texts and photos, post to social media sites, stream videos and share their experience with their friends and families. Taking the Lead From the start, BlueStream took the lead role in facilitating all aspects of the proj- ect, including relationship management with vendors, carriers, the venue owner and other parties involved with the instal- lation. Using its proven project manage- ment process, BlueStream developed and managed schedules, obtained permits and ensured compliance with National Electric Codes and all local rules and reg- ulations from the city of Cincinnati. The deployment schedule was tight, and the weather was a factor. The winter conditions, compounded with multiple snow and ice storms threatened the already aggressive 60 day project time- line. BlueStream carried on and managed to ensure all timelines were adhered to and deliverables met customer standards. All-Star Upgrades BlueStream continues to enhance the coverage at the Great American Ball Park. Since being chosen to host the All Star Game in July 2015, BlueStream installed additional remote antennas to boost capacity to handle the influx of fans visiting the park. Additional anten- nas were also installed at the Hall of Fame building. With the in-building sys- tem, Cincinnati Reds fans can enjoy an entertainment experience in the ballpark. About BlueStream BlueStream is a single source, end-to-end communications infrastructure and net- work technology services firm. It deliv- ers customer-centric solutions and servic- es that enable optimal communications solutions for its customers. With 30 years of industry experience and innovation, it has the unique capabilities, technology expertise and certifications to provide voice, video and data solutions to telecommunications carriers, cable oper- ators, infrastructure providers and enter- prise customers nationwide. For more information, stop by booth #4164 or visit bluestreampro.com. THE MIND BEHIND MADSTAR MOBILE David Pearsall started his career right out of high school as an electrician and still proudly holds onto his E1 today. Pearsall has since evolved from being a success- ful electrical contractor to owning and investing in dozens of companies. His companies range from early e-commerce, energy and even to professional sports franchises in the U.S. and the U.K. Pearsall has always been an over achiev- er even though he'll say he's not sure what that even means. He achieves suc- cess regularly with drive, purpose, com- plete confidence and by being what he calls a "decisive decision maker" while immersing himself into his work. Pearsall found his greatest success in the energy business as an electricity and natural gas supplier competing against the regulated utilities. He has built two companies in that industry that have grossed in excess of $100 million each before he turned 40 years old. After two years of contract negotiation and devel- opment, in October of 2014, Pearsall launched Madstar Mobile as the newest national wireless carrier to compete with the existing establishment of carriers. According to Pearsall, when someone has inspired thought with the proper skill set to exe- cute, they should trust it and immediately act upon it. "If you can provide consumer value in any industry and want to com- pete against someone, pick the biggest and best and go in with complete confi- dence and unwavering faith that you will win," Pearsall said. "The mobile situa- tion is very similar to that of energy 10 years ago. Having a mobile device with great coverage has become a necessity and is a staple of our society, just like electricity or natural gas." "At one point we were saving our customers over $1 million/month in energy," he added. "Our Madstar Mobile subscribers will be the recipient of savings and great customer service. With the premise of providing choice while saving people money, Madstar will be a refreshing alternative to those looking for a new wireless carrier." For further information, visit Madstar in booth #6829 or call 844.mad.star. Read more of this interview at www.on madstar.com/blog. THE EVOLVING PATH TO 5G NETWORKS In 2020, we will see the commercializa- tion of 5G networks – with speeds 100- times faster, capable of handling vastly more traffic. 5G technology will encom- pass an evolution of today's LTE tech- nology and the addition of new radio access technologies, often in higher fre- quencies. While we are clearly on the road to 5G, there remain a few roadblocks to get- ting there. If 4G has been about everyone being connected, 5G is about everything being connected. Operators will need to evolve both their networks and their busi- ness as they tackle the challenges of accelerating IOT, as well as improving Indoor app coverage. Ericsson's newest software features – designed to run on our indoor and outdoor mobile networks – address both of these challenges. Indoor App Coverage The challenges around Indoor App Coverage are pretty straightforward. About 90 percent of our time is spent indoors; yet a recent ConsumerLab sur- vey reveals that only three in 10 smart- phone users find indoor voice quality, coverage and reliability to be good. The survey also found that consumers expect operators to fix these issues, instead of consumers having to find workarounds. Voice is what these cellular networks were originally built for, but video and apps are driving heavy data consumption. Outside-in cellular coverage is clear- ly not going deep enough, and coverage in smart buildings with energy efficient windows may be blocked entirely. Distributed antenna systems (DAS) used to solve the coverage problem in larger buildings do not provide the capacity required to support mobile data growth. In the last few years, Ericsson has introduced new small cells to bring mobile broadband coverage and capacity indoors. One of the small cells, the Ericsson Radio Dot System, can fit in the palm of your hand. The other, called the RBS 6402 Picocell, has a tablet-sized footprint. And it is getting results. In buildings where Ericsson small cells are deployed, it is seeing improvements including zero dropped calls and five times increase in data throughput. It has also introduced new software for indoor small cells to improve indoor app coverage in locations such as public venues, enterprise offices and apart- ment buildings, boosting network uplink speeds by up to 200 percent and delivering downlink peak rates up to 600 Mbps. Accelerating IoT Industry analyst firm Gartner publicly estimates that the world will see 25 bil- lion Internet connected "things" by 2020. Machina Research, who specializes in the IoT space, pegged the global IoT market opportunity at USD 4.3 trillion by 2024. Whether you look at IoT from a mobile connection or a revenue point of view, it's clearly going to be big. IoT represents a slew of new and diverse connected services for consumers and industry, and new business opportu- nities for operators. Already, there are more than 230 mil- lion cellular M2M subscrip- tions for IoT devices, but that is the tip of the iceberg, espe- cially when you consider that cellular networks already cover 90 percent of the world's popula- tion. Leveraging on its extensive foot- print, high reliability and security of today's LTE and GSM networks, Ericsson has been driving IoT innova- tion, adoption and optimization on a number of fronts. For example, Ericsson's Device Connection Platform (DCP) is enabling operators to support deployments for a high number of M2M devices and applications, covering a wide range of industry verticals and the associ- ated connected consumer electronics. Ericsson will continue to develop advanced solutions and technologies for indoor app coverage and IoT acceleration as it helps service providers prepare to com- pete and win in the Networked Society. For more information, visit www .ericsson.com or stop by booth #4322.