Who on the Fierce Network team would be the best person to cover Verizon’s work at the NFL Draft? Clearly the short British guy (to whom football means something else entirely) would be your top pick.
So, off I went to Motor City this week to report on how Verizon is gearing up to support fans watching the process of distributing hulking college football players to all 32 teams in the American National Football League!
That’s how your correspondent ended up walking a few squares in downtown Detroit along with Verizon reps, other tech journalists, local TV crews and the Detroit Free Press early on Tuesday morning. We looked at antennas in the temporary stadium, 5G small cells on the street and a Verizon fan center off Hart Plaza.
Unfortunately – or maybe fortunately – this was before the actual draft started on Thursday evening.
Still, Fierce got to see some of the $25 million worth of infrastructure that Verizon had laid on for the 500,000 or so fans that are expected to crowd downtown Detroit over the coming weekend.
Each radio tower installed by the operator can support up to 30,000 users at a time, according to Verizon. The operator also has two temporary cell-on-wheels sites deployed in Cadillac Square and Hart Plaza.
One of the leaders on the project, Verizon Business Development Manager Scott Hubble, said that 98% of that infrastructure will stay in the city after the event is over, which he declared a boon for the working people of the city.
Hubble held forth on all things infrastructure during the morning's tour, also noting the large amount of fiber connections that Verizon had laid down to bolster its radio connectivity front end in Detroit.
So, what's the deal with Verizon's fan site?
Situated on the Detroit River which separates the United States from Canada, the site is going to help deliver around 3 to 4 gigabits per second to enable football devotees to stream from right on the riverfront, Hubble said.
Will you be on the ground in Detroit for the draft? Let us know how your mobile experience is!