AT&T Testing Cell Reception Fix At Ballpark
Since last season, Citizens Bank Park has been all but a dead zone for some on AT&T's wireless network. But now, the cell company says service there is alive and well.
KYW's Ian Bush reports it mainly affected smartphone users, according to AT&T spokesman Adam Cormier:
"What we experienced lately was a lot of usage of the network, and that was causing some problems with capacity."
During games, Cormier says some customers would have problems sending and receiving text messages, Tweets, and Facebook updates. And as their devices would strain to find a signal from overloaded cell sites, that would drain the battery.
For the solution, the company looked to their bullpen:
"It's a system normally we would deploy into an office building. We got creative in placing these antennas in different spots of the ballpark."
They're much smaller than traditional cell sites you'd see along a highway, and more-or-less blend in with the stadium.
"With that, we've been able to take this traffic and disperse it over this antenna system."
That should lead to fewer call errors and an easier time pitching and catching data -- and, in our tests, at least, do seem to be doing the trick.
Verizon has a few more permanent cell sites around the sports complex, and an in-stadium system at the Linc, where AT&T hopes to have a similar system in place in time for the upcoming season. Both companies have antennas inside the Center.
