AT&T Enhances San Francisco Bay Area Mobile Coverage For Pro Football’s Big Game

Upgrades Provide Additional Wireless Capacity and Coverage for Customers

When football fans head to the San Francisco Bay Area for the highly anticipated “Big Game”, they can expect an enhanced AT&T* mobile experience as they share once-in-a-lifetime moments with friends and family.

We’ve been working for more than a year expanding our mobile Internet coverage, a part of a continuing investment to support growing demand for wireless devices and services. We’ve done this through a series of permanent and temporary upgrades throughout the Bay Area. Our customers will stay connected from the moment they arrive. They can share moments during the week-long pre-game festivities, back at their hotels and during the “Big Game” in Santa Clara. In total, we’re investing more than $25 million so fans can post and share experiences on social media faster and easier than ever.

At the football stadium in Santa Clara, we’ve upgraded our Distributed Antenna System (DAS) to provide 150% more LTE capacity than the start of the 2015 pro football season. We’ve also upgraded or installed new DAS at 26 locations throughout the Bay Area ahead of the “Big Game.” Fans can enjoy better coverage in hotels, arenas, airports, convention centers, among other venues.

A DAS installation consists of multiple strategically-placed antennas that distribute AT&T’s wireless network coverage throughout the stadium. These antennas manage the wireless capacity in heavily-trafficked areas, such as football stadiums. This brings better, more consistent wireless coverage to customers in indoor or outdoor spaces.

“When our customers head out in the Bay Area to cheer on their favorite team, we want them to have a great network experience no matter what they’re doing – making a call, checking email or sharing their favorite moments on social media,” said Jeni Bell, vice president and general manager, of AT&T Northern California. “Many of the network enhancements deployed in the Bay Area for the Big Game are permanent and will continue to benefit customers after. It’s just one way we’re continuing to invest in our Northern California wireless network.”

In addition to the stadium in Santa Clara, we’ve upgraded or installed new DAS at the airports in San Francisco and Oakland and the convention centers in Santa Clara and San Francisco. We also have an existing DAS serving the practice facility in Palo Alto.

We’ve deployed nine Cell on Wheels (COWs) to handle expected increased wireless network demands for the “Big Game.” They will improve reliability and data speeds during the week leading up to and during the Big Game. Key deployment locations include multiple COWs outside the stadium in Santa Clara to support tailgate party activities, two SuperCOWs to cover the football experience celebration at Justin Herman Plaza, one COW at Treasure Island for the Friday night party and several other places.

We expect crowds of more than a 100,000 people, but we’re ready with 39 new or enhanced nearby cell sites. These investments will let Northern California residents celebrate the “Big Game” over the AT&T network, at home, at work and on the go.

AT&T invested more than $2.2 billion in its San Francisco area wireless and wireline networks from 2012 through 2014.

For more information about AT&T’s coverage in the Bay Area or anywhere in the United States, consumers can visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer.  For updates on the AT&T wireless network, please visit the AT&T network news page.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

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