Data spike leads to mobile phone fumbles at Oklahoma stadiums

[GG]

It's tough for people at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University football stadiums to use their mobile phones because a rapid increase in phone data means there isn't enough radio spectrum capacity to go around

By JAMES S. TYREE NewsOK.com

OKLAHOMA CITY - Making a call or sending a text or e-mail at a University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University football game can be as difficult a task as trying to figure out college football's BCS formula.


"It stinks, even in the parking lot," OU fan Lisa Jorns said of cell phone coverage on football game days.

Kenny Mossman, OU senior associate athletic director for communications, said the problem is too many mobile phone users in a relatively small area. Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium can hold more than 85,000 people; Boone Pickens Stadium at OSU can seat more than 60,000.

"We are oversaturating the available cell phone coverage from commercial providers due to the high-volume usage in a concentrated area," Mossman stated in an e-mail.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=52&articleid=20100913_52_0_OKLAHO837083

[Hoss]

It's tough for people at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University football stadiums to use their mobile phones because a rapid increase in phone data means there isn't enough radio spectrum capacity to go around

By JAMES S. TYREE NewsOK.com

OKLAHOMA CITY - Making a call or sending a text or e-mail at a University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University football game can be as difficult a task as trying to figure out college football's BCS formula.


"It stinks, even in the parking lot," OU fan Lisa Jorns said of cell phone coverage on football game days.

Kenny Mossman, OU senior associate athletic director for communications, said the problem is too many mobile phone users in a relatively small area. Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium can hold more than 85,000 people; Boone Pickens Stadium at OSU can seat more than 60,000.

"We are oversaturating the available cell phone coverage from commercial providers due to the high-volume usage in a concentrated area," Mossman stated in an e-mail.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=52&articleid=20100913_52_0_OKLAHO837083

That should have been a big fat 'duh' moment.  You'd think the carriers would be falling all over themselves to expand coverages in these dense population centers.  That would actually mean making infrastructure upgrades though.

You might be surprised though.  Does anyone know how much overhead there is on a simple 160 character text message?  Zero.  The cell companies are greasing us up with the fees that we happily pay.  I'll admit it, I do too.

[patric]

None of these bright universities have heard of something called a Microcell?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcell

"Microcells are usually used to add network capacity in areas with very dense phone usage, such as train stations. Microcells are often deployed temporarily during sporting events and other occasions in which extra capacity is known to be needed at a specific location ahead of time."

[nathanm]

Does anyone know how much overhead there is on a simple 160 character text message?  Zero.  The cell companies are greasing us up with the fees that we happily pay.  I'll admit it, I do too.

There's not a whole lot of overhead, but SMS only uses the control channels, which are relatively low bandwidth to begin with. Only part of the control channel can be used for SMS because the control channel's primary function is for registration and call setup/teardown tasks.

The fees are not to offset actual costs; they are there to discourage people from using SMS more than the network can handle. (and to make carriers money, of course) In the waning days of TDMA, I had free SMS. It wasn't too useful since almost nobody had a phone capable of sending them at the time. I mainly used to it send emails to my TiVo to schedule recordings and to tell my server to please reply with a weather report. That was before SBMS/Cingular had data service.

[sgrizzle]

None of these bright universities have heard of something called a Microcell?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcell

"Microcells are usually used to add network capacity in areas with very dense phone usage, such as train stations. Microcells are often deployed temporarily during sporting events and other occasions in which extra capacity is known to be needed at a specific location ahead of time."

Do the work as "well" as the AT&T Microcells they sell in stores?

[Hoss]

Do the work as "well" as the AT&T Microcells they sell in stores?

That was my point.  Microcells are iffy at best.

[patric]

Do the work as "well" as the AT&T Microcells they sell in stores?

What at&t is calling a "microcell" would cover a few rooms in your house (not a stadium like a true microcell) and from the reviews I have read, barely does that.  at&t's "microcell" doesnt even fit the definition of a microcell.  They may have chosen the name because Verizon was associated with "Femtocells" but I dont believe either carrier has a real claim on either term.

"Typically the range of a microcell is less than two kilometers wide, a picocell is 200 meters or less, and a femtocell is on the order of 10 meters.[1], although AT&T calls its product, with a range of 40 feet (12 m), a "microcell".[2]"


In the mean time, that shouldnt prevent any responsible carrier from running fiber to a stadium and wheeling in a temporary cell-site trailer to connect to.  The usage data they collect can then be used to fix weaknesses in their network.

[nathanm]

What at&t is calling a "microcell" would cover a few rooms in your house (not a stadium like a true microcell) and from the
In the mean time, that shouldnt prevent any responsible carrier from running fiber to a stadium and wheeling in a temporary cell-site trailer to connect to.  The usage data they collect can then be used to fix weaknesses in their network.

One site won't make a lick of difference to 60,000 or more people. Each sector on a macrocell handles perhaps 200 or 300 people, and at that level of utilization, the service isn't great. They'd have to have a gadzillion picocells scattered around the stadium for your phone to work as normal, and it would require at least three different companies to come in and do that. (T-Mobile, because they use the AWS band for 3G, at&t because they use a different 3G band, and VZW or Sprint, because they use a different air interface than T-Mobile and at&t) Oh, and Sprint would also have to do their own thing for their "4G" product, since they're the only ones using WiMax for mobile telephony.

[Conan71]

So basically football fans need to do what we did 25 years ago, leave the phone at home and enjoy the game.

[nathanm]

So basically football fans need to do what we did 25 years ago, leave the phone at home and enjoy the game.

Or at least realize that you're not going to be able to do much more with it than send a couple of text messages. The constant facebook updates, picture uploads, and everything else from 20,000 people or more out of the 60,000 attending is just too much in one place for any reasonable network to handle.

[Conan71]

Or at least realize that you're not going to be able to do much more with it than send a couple of text messages. The constant facebook updates, picture uploads, and everything else from 20,000 people or more out of the 60,000 attending is just too much in one place for any reasonable network to handle.

The first time I saw this phenomena was at the Hotter N Hell Hundred cycling festival in Wichita Falls last year.  I got separated from my group at the trade show on Friday night and could not use my phone to find them because all the circuits were tied up.  This had brought in about 16,000 to 20,000 people to downtown Wichita Falls... no wonder.

They didn't have that problem this year, not sure if they added a micro-cell or what the difference was.  We were expecting no service most of the weekend but it didn't happen.

[nathanm]

They didn't have that problem this year, not sure if they added a micro-cell or what the difference was.  We were expecting no service most of the weekend but it didn't happen.

They probably added 5 or 6 COWs, possibly more. It's a lot easier in that sort of spread out environment than it is in a stadium.

[DolfanBob]

I was pi**ed Saturday at the game because the people I was going to tailgate with couldnt give directions to where they were and I could not call them to find out how to find them. I missed the whole tailgating experience because we got there late by taking Highway 9 from the East and hit road construction.
So basically I just wanted to take pictures with my fully charged iPhone but since it spent the whole time searching for a network, My battery went dead in about 1 and a half hour into the game. Way to go AT&T

[Ed W]

The first time I saw this phenomena was at the Hotter N Hell Hundred cycling festival in Wichita Falls last year.  I got separated from my group at the trade show on Friday night and could not use my phone to find them because all the circuits were tied up.  This had brought in about 16,000 to 20,000 people to downtown Wichita Falls... no wonder.

They didn't have that problem this year, not sure if they added a micro-cell or what the difference was.  We were expecting no service most of the weekend but it didn't happen.

The same thing happens in disaster areas (Catoosa tornado, OKC bombing) as the communications network overloads.  Both wired and wireless phones are effected.  GMRS radio isn't any better, but amateur radio still works because they have so much more spectrum.

[patric]

From okblitz:

' OKLAHOMA CITY—Fans of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State with AT&T cellular phone service don't have to wait any longer to get better reception inside the stadiums and arenas.

AT&T has launched advanced Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University.

Memorial Stadium as well as both Boone Pickens Stadium and Gallagher-Iba Arena are equipped with the new DAS system which is up and running at all three venues.

The new DAS systems use dozens of small antennas at each venue to deliver massive new wireless capacity to the schools stadiums and arena.

At OU about 150 antennas will be strategically placed around the football stadium. '

What is it?   http://connectedplanetonline.com/wireless/technology/pico_femto_cells_121506/