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IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy to SHoTTa35

Premium Member

to SHoTTa35

Re: At least Verizon Wireless is honest

And you would think with the frequency of football games they would just lease space from the stadium owner (the NFL) and install permanent cell sites in these facilities. Would be a much better long term solution considering the manpower needed to put up/take down a COW unit. And the NFL season runs late summer to big game Sunday so I think permanent cell sites would be more feasible.

State fairs on the other hand (such as the Iowa State Fair or the Big E) run once a year and only last 17 days so a portable cell site and the labor to run the back haul and set up the unit would be much more feasible.

Another potential use for COWs is local 4th of July celebrations but those are usually one weekend at most.
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband

Member

The cell companies have the power and the money to operate COWs. Have you seen a VZW actually set them up? On the ground it maybe takes 3 people to set them up. The backhaul always seems to be in place on the actual towers as nothing never changes if you look at the near by towers. Take a trip to MIS and you can see there. They have well more than 17 COWs for a race. The same as Charlotte Motor Speedway- and they even have equipment IN the speedways- all 3 of them that Charlotte owns.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

What I am saying though is it would be more cost effective to install permanent cell sites in or near facililities where COWs are frequently used (football stadiums, ballparks, racetracks, etc). The only place I could see the justification of using a COW is a once yearly event such as a state fair. And if they have to pull a permit every time they deploy a COW, then it would even be more justifiable to just put in a permanent cell tower in these facilities.

And some facilities get overlooked for COW deployment such as the Holyoke Mall during the Christmas shopping season. When I had AT&T, you couldn't make or receive calls at the Holyoke Mall during the Christmas shopping season (even though you had 2-3 bars) because the one tower that covered the mall was overloaded. If there is one place where a COW would be useful, it would be larger shopping malls during the Christmas season. And Holyoke Mall at three levels and 200 stores is no exception. Verizon is slightly better for usability under load.