Mercedes Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA

A major Carrier’s decision to upgrade the cellular infrastructure of the Mercedes Benz Superdome to support their Wireless Communications Service (WCS) bands required the installation of over three hundred under-seat antennas. Each antenna required concrete coring for cable access, with X-ray examination used to ensure that no rebar or tensioning cable was cut.

ECSite supported the contractor, Optical Telecom (now AFL), in managing the installation:

• 4.4 million square feet project
• Each antenna location was photographed and documented
• Locations were then submitted for approval
• ECSite’s app tracked which locations were submitted, approved, and drilled
• Photographs of the coring were taken and kept in the app
• Over 1,500 coax cables were installed and tested, with results tracked in the ECSite app
• PIM testing was also performed and the results tabulated
• After cable installation, each cable was tested, and antenna power measured at each location. Testing results and power values were tracked by ECSite.
• If necessary, attenuators were installed to ensure antenna power levels were in the correct range. Again, all installed attenuators (attenuation in dB and the manufacturer’s part number) and the modified power levels were tracked by ECSite.
• Photographs and reports documented the attenuator installation and calibration
• Myriad details were tracked by ECSite; every parameter of each antenna was indexed by stadium section, seat row, and seat number
• ECSite tracked all of this information across multiple crews, and consistently delivered documented reports overnight. Installation today, fully documented and reported tomorrow.

“ECSite turned around all of our requests overnight in their app to be able to track all of the coring, power levels and generate reports, saving us a lot of time and minimizing a lot of potential errors” — David Wiginton, Vice President, AFL

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