Atlanta’s Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) is the second largest convention center in Georgia, with convenient access to the Hartsfield–Jackson Airport through the ATL Skytrain. This makes GICC perfect for hosting prestigious events like the NBA G League playoffs and Call of Duty League.
However, total venue space and transportation convenience are not the only two factors that play a part in making sure events happen successfully. With the rise in cutting-edge telecom technologies, fan experience is critical. This means that convention centers must also be equipped with unparalleled data coverage and capacity for event goers to take part in the events, interrupted.
Unfortunately, GICC had poor data coverage. That’s when Betacom was called on to deliver a full-scale wireless infrastructure upgrade. And the trick was to deploy it without causing any business disruption.
Superior Indoor Data Coverage
Betacom boosted the indoor data coverage in GICC using a distributed RAN (D-RAN) system, where radios were installed as close to the antenna as possible.
Since the system only uses a small network of passive components with low-power radios as the signal source, it helped to cost-effectively increase data coverage within the convention centers.
But there were challenges along the way.
Flexible Upgrade Work Without the Downtime
The infrastructure upgrade process at GICC faced a common issue for any convention center. Management rents out the event halls 24/7. Closing just a few sections of the center for upgrade work would undoubtedly have an impact on revenue.
Betacom solved this by proactively forecasting the events and halls that were rented out, and planning around them. The Betacom team was also flexible in accommodating last-minute requests by the convention center management team. For example, they would install equipment at Exhibit Room B if Room A was booked for an event, even if they initially planned to work on Room A on that day.
Betacom was able to hit the daily deadlines, clean up, and have the event halls ready for use the next day with the new D-RAN upgrade fully deployed and offering fans and event attendees high-performance services.
When upgrading your venue, it’s critical to minimize business disruption. The right infrastructure partner not only delivers dynamic turnkey solutions, but they can also do it within the stipulated deadline and budget. With over 30 years of in-house experience in telecommunications, we’re the wireless infrastructure experts. Contact us today for a free consultation.
