- Runners from all over the world are participating in the NYC marathon
- Verizon has set up thousands of feet of fiber to serve the event
- It will deliver bandwidth to broadcasters and emergency responders
Verizon told Fierce that it set up 25 separate fiber circuits – as well as various copper lines – that are capable of running 700 terabytes of data for broadcasters, emergency responders and more at the finish line of Sunday's New York City marathon on West 66th Street and Central Park.
The operator cannot bury these temporary lines underground, which leaves them at risk from one of nature's most vicious predators – the grey squirrel. It is one of the big challenges when running fiber among trees and along paths in Central Park, Verizon told Fierce.
The operator said it takes around three weeks to set up the temporary fiber optic lines on the marathon course throughout the park. There is a similar setup at the start of the marathon in Staten Island.
Verizon didn’t upgrade its wireless 5G system along the route of the marathon this year because, it said, the network was upgraded with C-band spectrum last year and it can handle Sunday’s expected traffic load.