T-Mobile is set for the Super Bowl LV this Sunday, having boosted the Tampa area with a mid-band spectrum to 5G and bringing all three “layers” of the operator’s 5G to Raymond James Stadium.
T-Mobile has already launched 5G in Tampa using 600 MHz low-band spectrum, and on Tuesday said 2.5 GHz is now active in parts of Tampa Bay and the surrounding area.
The fastest 2.5 GHz service is available in parts of the city center, as well as in Hyde Park, Ybor City and the neighboring cities of St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Dade City. T-Mobile’s 2.5 GHz deployments are expected to increase performance, providing a sweet spot for coverage and capacity compared to the respective shortcomings of mmWave and low-band spectrum.
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As for Raymond James Stadium, where the Kansas City Chiefs will face Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the weekend, the venue has been equipped with a mix of low, medium and high band spectrum for T-Mobile. called 5G “layer cake”. This includes the interior of the stadium and the surrounding parking. T-Mobile is using the mmWave spectrum in the 39 GHz band.
T-Mobile marks its 5G medium and millimeter wave flavors as ‘Ultra Capacity’ compared to the 600 MHz “Extended Range” deployments used for wider national 5G coverage.
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Of course, this year’s big game will be different from the previous Super Bowls, with only limited face-to-face participation.
T-Mobile’s president of technology, Neville Ray, confirmed the network’s updates on Twitter, noting that, as in previous years, the improvements are not temporary and will remain after the final score on February 7.
All three operators have been talking about improvements to the 5G network before the game in the Tampa Bay area.
Like AT&T, T-Mobile also equipped Tampa International Airport for access to the mmWave 5G with a compatible device. Both use 39 GHz.
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AT&T also extended the mmWave 5G service (dubbed 5G +) using 39 GHz to parts of downtown Tampa Bay and the Raymond James Stadium. For Verizon, the news from the network included an investment of $ 80 million for improvements in and around the stadium, with upgraded DAS, 281 small cell antennas and 70 miles of high speed fiber.
5G is expected to be featured during the game as well. Verizon is offering the Fortnite experience through a virtual Verizon 5G Stadium and the Verizon 5G SuperStadium in the NFL app, which shows different camera angles to fans in the stadium and at home.
T-Mobile will also not miss viewers, confirming on Tuesday that it will advertise during the Super Bowl.