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The new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas has a lot of state-of-the-art technology and architecture you can see. What’s equally impressive, however, is the cutting-edge distributed antenna system (DAS) that’s largely hidden away from view, thanks to the designers and engineers at Telecommunication Properties Inc. of Dallas.

Sure, it’s hard to miss that 600-ton video board hanging 90 feet above the field – the world’s largest 1080p HDTV.  The sheer enormity of the 3-million-square-foot stadium, the largest in the National Football League, is also readily apparent when you walk into the structure. But if you’re a fan in Cowboys Stadium on game day, and you want to phone a friend and gloat about how you were able to land one of the hottest tickets in town – or you want to post a picture on Facebook of you with America’s Team in the background -  then it’s TPI’s technology you can thank.

TPI, an industry leader for in-building wireless infrastructure systems since its founding in 1985, has the challenging task of making sure all the cell phone signals and wireless data coming into and out of Cowboys Stadium gets to where it’s supposed to go on Sundays in the fall. That means the many smartphone users among a sellout crowd of 100,000-plus fans can’t notice any glitches in call quality, delays in text messaging or hiccups in status updates to your favorite social network.

But that challenge is the reason why TPI President and founder Jimmy Chiles has steered his company towards providing DAS services to large sports venues like Cowboys Stadium and the soon-to-open KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

“Everybody now has a cell phone, everybody wants the ability to move data, go to the internet, check email, and we find that sports venues are ideally the most attractive place because l don’t know of any other public place or venue where the total amount of people are in just a few acres,” Chiles said.

TPI’s Chief Technology Officer Jeff Alexander echoes the need for one company like his to be able to knit together all the different parts of the telecommunications quilt at a major sporting event. “It’s all about the fiber, it’s all about the WiFi, it’s all about the cellular side of the business,” Alexander said. “It’s all about combining all those things into one unified communications network so they all work together to provide the staff, the people who are working there, and the fans the ultimate experience.

“The technology has advanced to the point where coverage is no longer the key element of these sites. It’s more about cell capacity, it’s more about having hundreds of thousands of people in a small area all trying to use a smart device, their iPhones, their Blackberries, all at one time.”

Chiles, Alexander and the rest of the TPI management team design their systems at their offices in the Bank of America building in downtown Dallas. The company was one of the first tenants of the building when it opened 25 years ago, and in the time since TPI has watched the wireless industry become a key part of the technology segment and the business world overall. Data has become as big a part of the wireless traffic picture as voice, thanks to the rise of broadband networks, portable Web-friendly devices and smartphones.

And while TPI continues to maintain a presence in other parts of the wireless telecommunications segment – in-building DAS, large real estate projects, antenna sites – Chiles’ company has targeted large sports venues and stadium DAS as a special opportunity for growth. TPI works with building owners and construction contractors, along with wireless providers, when a new sports stadium is planned from the ground up; charting locations for cell sites, choosing the right building materials for minimal signal interference, etc. But the company can also become involved when an existing, older facility is undergoing a technological or architectural renovation.

The company’s DAS isn’t just a function of technological products and services. TPI also makes sure that all the providers taking part in the system – the building owner, the wireless carriers providing coverage – can get the most value from a financial standpoint.

“Our expertise lies in that we know how to engineer the product,” Chiles said. “But more importantly, it’s how we monetize the transactions – what this transaction looks like for the venue owner as well as the carrier and what’s the fair compensation.”

For more information, go to www.tpidas.com.

Show Transcript

Renay San Miguel: You can see a lot of Texas from here, what you cant see are the phone calls, the wireless signals, the internet connections all being broadcasted and relayed in the air from the telecommunication properties antennas here on The Bank Of America building in downtown Dallas. This is the vanish point TPI has had on the industry since 1985. They have seen the rise of wireless technologies, the impact of those technologies on the business world and the coming of the smart phone. And TPI says it will keep playing a role in making those connections and keeping those signals flying. The traffic isn’t just on the ground. TPI manages and operates large distributed antenna systems that send voice and data soaring around big buildings around big cities. It means consulting closely with building contractors, wireless carriers, building owners. Now the TPI team is sending its own signal. It has large sports facilities in its sites. “It is a Super Bowl worthy challenge!” says Chief Technology Officer Jeff Alexander. So tell me why sports venues, what is it about these particular large venues that attracts the attention of TPI? Jeff Alexander: The technology has advanced to the point where coverage is no longer a key element of these systems, its more about capacity, its more about having hundreds of thousands of people in a small area all trying to use there smart device, there Iphone’s, there Blackberry’s all at one time. Jimmy Chiles: Everybody now has a cell phone. Everybody wants the ability to move data, go to the internet, and check email. And we find that sports venues are really the most attractive place because, I don’t know that any other public place or venue where the amount of people are in just a few acres. Lots of people in one location taking pictures excited about what’s going on. Our expertise lies in that we know how to 1. Engineer the product, but more importantly to how we monetize the transaction, what this transaction looks like for the venue owner as well as the carrier and what’s the fair compensation. Jeff Alexander: It’s all about the fiber, its all about the Wi-Fi; it’s about the cellular side of the business. It’s combining all those things into one unified communications network so they all work together to provide the staff, the people that are working there, the fans; the ultimate experience. Renay San Miguel: Obviously you want to be able to bring your technology in from the ground up as a building is going up, but what about some of the older facilities able to do some of the things that you want to do to those. Jeff Alexander: In general we get involved in stadiums or venues that are going through a major technology renovation or a brand new stadium like The Cowboys Stadium. So in fact, we can, we are involved in those projects now. They represent unique challenges in how things are handled. Renay San Miguel: Tell me some of the challenges that are involved in getting the wireless infrastructure going at some of these sporting venues, especially like a big playoff game. Jeff Alexander: Oh they range from A-Z. It’s the technology; it’s the specific wireless provider’s requirements for there network. Jimmy Chiles: Typically there is 5 in every market, plus we have new internet only wireless services, organizing them on a common antenna infrastructure. Jeff Alexander: And it even gets down to where the antennas go what they look like and how many they will allow in the particular venue. Renay San Miguel: The crown jewel in TPI’s portfolio is the new Cowboys Stadium; A massive next generation palace. It’s not just the shear size of the building or the scope of the technology that you can see, its TPI’s wireless infrastructure that lets fans use there smart phones to make calls, send text messages, take pictures or video and share them instantly on social networks. It’s not just a football stadium its TPI’s research and development lab. Jeff Alexander: Well Cowboys Stadium has presented a lot of unique challenges for us, and it has been a work in progress and we learned an enormous amount from that particular venue. It’s like no other, when you walk in the door and you look up and you look around and you see the magnitude of this facility its just amazing. You know we’re told that every event that happens out there sets a new record for the individual companies, wireless providers, on the amount of data traffic that they carry and the amount of cell phone calls that they take during the event. These events start at not just kick off, they may start two or three hours before kick off, and they may last two or three hours after kick off. It’s tailgating, the concerts that happen prior, firework shows that happen after. They all add to the impact. Renay San Miguel: And as those wireless networks get faster and deliver more and more data, telecommunications properties say “It’ll stay in the game”. For Spark360 I am Renay San Miguel.