Pictures of Always Dreaming, the winner of the 2017 Kentucky Derby race, were spread across social media sites by the 263,000 fans on hand at Churchill Downs. In fact, based on information from wireless infrastructure provider Mobilitie, attendees set a new record by sending and receiving 25 terabytes of data during the event.
The data traffic is supported by a distributed antenna system (DAS) that Mobilitie initially installed in 2012 and has upgraded each year since. The DAS covers the entire event area, around 115 acres, and comprises 377 antennas, 750 amplifiers, 13 miles of coax and 2.3 million feet of fiber optic cabling.
“Churchill Downs has the most robust, sophisticated and capable wireless network anywhere,” said Christos Karmis, president of Mobilitie. “The network carried more than 25 terabytes of data – that’s all the data in the Library of Congress multiplied by two – and didn’t blink. Kentucky Derby officials wanted the best wireless experience for its spectators, in partnership with them and wireless carriers, and we have created it.”
According to Mobile Sports Report, AT&T recorded 13.6 terabytes of data use for the entire race weekend, which represents a 19% increase from the previous year. Verizon users consumed 7.17 terabytes of data on Derby Day, up from 5.5 terabytes the previous years.
