Verizon Wireless has made network enhancements including new remote electrical tilt antennas and LTE Advanced technology to manage data demands during Donald Trump’s Presidential inauguration in Washington DC.
Verizon has made significant network enhancements, leading to a 500 percent increase in wireless data capacity and debuting new technologies.
Verizon is utilizing new technology in temporary cell sites along the National Mall that allow Network engineers to make real-time adjustments, moving wireless capacity with the crowds as they move.
Verizon’s network team is using Remote Electrical Tilt (RET) antennas to remotely change antenna angles. Verizon is using Matsing Ball technology, which divides crowds into sectors like slices of a pie. Each slice or sector can be adjusted individually to handle wireless traffic.
Verizon Wireless has upgraded all permanent cell sites around the Mall and the surrounding area with Electrical Tilt antennas to allow remote adjustment to boost coverage and capacity – so DC residents and visitors will benefit for years to come.
Verizon Wireless is using three-channel carrier aggregation (LTE Advanced) in the Washington metro area to enhance peak data speeds. This is a further enhancement to the nationwide August rollout of two-channel aggregation, providing 50 percent greater peak speeds in DC and across the country (to more than 90 percent of the population).
“Verizon customers attending the Inauguration will have early access to these new technological advancements we are deploying widely throughout our network in 2017,” said Nicola Palmer, chief network officer for Verizon Wireless.
Verizon Wireless’ network engineers have added 500 percent more wireless voice and data capacity throughout Washington D.C., including at Dulles International Airport, Union Station, and at local hotels and convention centers.
Verizon Wireless engineers equipped with hand-held test equipment are walking the Mall and most-densely populated neighborhoods of the nation’s capital throughout the festivities to monitor the network in real-time so changes can be made quickly as needed.
For President Obama’s first inauguration in 2009, only 10 percent of the U.S. population used a smartphone. Today, 88 percent of Americans own smartphones and more than 95 percent of Verizon’s data traffic runs on its 4G LTE network.
It is expected that Verizon customers at the inauguration will be using Instagram, SnapChat, and Twitter to share photos and videos of the swearing in ceremony, run Facebook Live while attending the parade.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
