American Tower Corporation and Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild, are deploying a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) solution that will bring 5G technology to the arena. Xcel Energy Center, which attracts 1.7 million visitors and hosts over 150 sports and entertainment events annually, including 44 National Hockey League (NHL) games per season, ranks among North America's largest arenas.
“We were ready to enter the new era of fan engagement and provide cutting-edge applications for the Minnesota Wild fans, with an updated, neutral-host 5G DAS,” said Jim Ibister, Senior Vice president of facility administration, Minnesota Sports & Entertainment. “When we were evaluating connectivity providers, American Tower’s track record with sports venues and technological vision made them the obvious choice to lead this critical network upgrade. Our fans expect a fast and reliable network so that they can share their live game-time experience with friends and family. This network upgrade will provide a state-of-the-art experience today and set the foundation for future technologies for years to come."
They are having started construction in May, with an expedited timeline to finish the project ahead of the 2023 hockey season. The network will cover the 650,000-square-foot facility, including the arena, the adjacent Saint Paul RiverCentre, the city's convention center, and back-of-the-house areas to enhance operations and services.
The new system will support all 5G spectrum bands, including C-band and millimeter wave (mmWave).
“We are working diligently to ensure a seamless transition, without any downtime, as we construct a parallel DAS network that will be fully deployed in time for the 2023 NHL season,” said Francis Finnegan, Vice President, Managed Networks for American Tower. “Our DAS solution not only meets today’s 5G requirements, but it is future-ready for next-generation applications with our edge compute offerings.”
Gaining 5G DAS momentum
American Tower has continued to progress in the DAS market as more providers expand their 5G wireless coverage.
The provider has deployed 500 fully managed wireless infrastructure solutions in over 1,300 properties, covering all major vertical markets, including retail, hospitality, large public venue, and transportation. To support these efforts, American Tower has invested over $670 million of capital in constructing wireless infrastructure.
One of the other vital customers where American Tower provides DAS services is the Minneapolis Convention Center, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2020. Owned by the City of Minneapolis, the 1.6-million-square-foot facility features 475,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 3,400 fixed-seat auditorium, 87 meeting rooms, and two ballrooms.
It also manages the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) facilities’ DAS. ISC has installed DAS systems at five facilities, Wi-Fi at Daytona International Speedway, and plans to install Wi-Fi at Phoenix International Raceway.
DAS penetration is rising
As more wireless operators expand the reach of their 5G wireless networks, the DAS market will continue to grow over the next decade.
According to Polaris Research, the global DAS market was valued at $8.75 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.4% between 2022 and 2030.
The research firm said various factors are driving the growth: increasing mobile data traffic, a larger group of connected devices because of the Internet of Things (IoT), growing preference for extended and undisrupted connectivity, and increased construction activities related to modern and sustainable.
Networked devices continue to see rapid growth that can’t be completed and supported by microcellular networks.
This year, Polaris forecast that there will be 29.3 billion networked devices, up from 18.4 billion in 2018. It added that the demand for bandwidth management is increasing as mobile connectivity technologies evolve. The dependence on macrocellular networks would make it difficult for service providers to meet the needs of their customers.
From a regional perspective, Polaris noted that North America had the most significant global distributed antenna system market revenue share. By 2025, 5G will account for roughly two-thirds of the total mobile connections or almost 270 million contacts.
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Sean Buckley
Sean is responsible for establishing and executing the editorial strategies of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report across their websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products.