Sports championships are always a banner day for die-hard fans. But now there’s even bigger scores that those in the telecom business are starting to keep their eyes on. To give you a sense for what I’m referring to, check out this piece about the Ohio State win at the “first-ever College Football Playoff Championship”.
This was no ordinary championship game; it was also a test of “AT&T’s Broadcast Version of LTE“. During the playoffs, AT&T offered various camera angles and replays for fans in attendance with compatible phones.
If the final tally for AT&T’s kickoff play is anything to go by, the trial was a success. The game was accountable for nearly 5 terabytes of data travelling over the stadium’s wi-fi network, and another 1.4 terabytes over AT&T’s cellular network.
The numbers are even more impressive when you dig deeper into the data. For example, that amount of traffic is equivalent to 18 million social media posts (including photos) – and doubles the traffic from a Dallas Cowboys home game. It was even more than what AT&T saw at the 2014 Super Bowl in New York, and 20% more than traffic over the course of the two-day College Basketball Final Four at AT&T Stadium.
It seems like we will soon be entering a whole new era of sports coverage. Given this latest success, we wouldn’t be surprised to see LTE Broadcast at more stadiums once service providers get more comfortable with the idea… which they seem to be. From all accounts, it’s just a matter of time.
Have you tried LTE Broadcast? Tell us about it.
By Werner Sievers, CEO