HICKORY, NC, May 11, 2009—The Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium
in Arlington, Texas, the nation’s largest and most spectacular domed venue,
will have no equal when it opens this summer. Befitting a site of this
stature, it will operate the most sophisticated, high-performance and world-class
communications infrastructure of any sporting facility in the world, courtesy
of CommScope.
CommScope was chosen to provide network infrastructure
and cellular coverage and capacity solutions for the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium.
Through its Enterprise
Solutions™ and Andrew
Solutions™ businesses, CommScope is furnishing and installing advanced
connectivity solutions that will support the stadium’s core operations and communications
requirements for fans, staff and public safety officials.
“The Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium will become one of the most visible
buildings in the world and, as a part of that, we needed the most advanced communications
network we could find—not just for today but also looking into the future,”
said Jerry Jones, owner and general manager, Dallas Cowboys Football
Club. “CommScope helped us craft one of the finest high-performance networks
on the planet. We have a vision for a place that reflects the emotion and competition
encapsulated by the stadium, and CommScope has helped bring that to life.”
The state-of-the-art venue, scheduled to open June 2009,
will use CommScope’s SYSTIMAX® high-performance network solutions to create
the world’s largest internet protocol television (IPTV) installation and operate the stadium’s data center
and other technical operations. In addition, the stadium will feature an extensive
in-building wireless communications network from Andrew that will provide complete
cellular coverage in the stadium and its surrounding property for all spectators
and team officials, coaching staff, employees and public safety agencies.
“We are extremely proud that this first-class stadium also
will be a showcase for CommScope and its advanced network connectivity solutions,”
said Brian Garrett, president and chief operating officer, CommScope. “This
is the one of the most prominent examples to date of CommScope’s capabilities
to support customers with multiple application requirements, in this case wireless
and enterprise connectivity infrastructure. This breadth of solutions
is a differentiator for CommScope that delivers great benefit to customers such
as the Dallas Cowboys.”
Enterprise Infrastructure
With CommScope’s enterprise solutions fueling the network,
stadium managers will have complete control over the Dallas Cowboys stadium’s
core operations. The SYSTIMAX solution
will provide enhanced network intelligence to systems such as digital audio
and video, voice over internet protocol phones, HVAC (heating, ventilation and
air conditioning), access control and most building management applications,
giving the Dallas Cowboys IT staff increased vision, knowledge and control that
heighten the stadium experience.
In addition, the converged CommScope network will bring
streaming video to the one-of-a-kind, four-sided scoreboard featuring the world’s
largest LED high-definition video displays and the stadium’s 2,800 TV monitors.
“The Jones family did a fantastic job of creating a stadium
where sports and entertainment meet technology,” said Randy Crenshaw, executive
vice president and general manager, CommScope Enterprise Solutions. “The CommScope
network will play a major role in providing all who enter the stadium with a
unique interactive experience, while supporting the operations needs of the
Dallas Cowboys organization.”
The SYSTIMAX products will harness the new stadium’s technology
and link building systems over a converged network infrastructure in order to
supply more efficiency, higher productivity and increased comfort. Network
convergence brings a host of opportunities. The same IP network that provides
video content to the high-definition LED video displays will control air conditioning,
the phone and data systems, roof movement, lighting and many other applications
that help complete the ultimate fan experience.
The stadium also will use the SYSTIMAX iPatch® Intelligent
Infrastructure Solution to strengthen stadium and network security. The stadium
IT staff will rely on iPatch to eliminate the blind spots in the network, detect
unauthorized network access in real-time and the location of the breach, monitor
all network moves/adds/changes, eliminate documentation errors and quickly solve
network troubleshooting. With the Cowboys utilizing VoIP phones in the new stadium,
iPatch also handles E911 calls, aiding emergency responders in finding a person
in need when emergency numbers are dialed.
Wireless Infrastructure
Stadiums present unique challenges in providing wireless
services, with game days requiring a cellular network that supports the equivalent
of a small city in a massive structure notorious for difficult signal penetration.
Andrew is a global industry leader at solving the technical
challenges posed in providing coverage
and capacity solutions in stadiums, subways, airports, skyscrapers
and related structures. With its size and elaborate design, the Dallas
Cowboys’ stadium required one of the largest and most complex indoor cellular
systems of any stadium in the world.
Andrew furnished and is installing a complete multi-carrier,
multi-service wireless solution that supports commercial cellular services for
general fan and employee usage; public safety services for police, fire, ambulance
and federal agencies; and private, internal services for coaching staff and
game officials’ communications. It features active (ION™ optical repeaters)
and passive (cable, antennas and components) products for a turnkey integrated
distributed antenna solution covering more than 20 stadium operations and functions,
including ticketing, concessions, halftime staging, data center, maintenance
and team offices. In addition, a special UHF frequency can support coach-to-coach
and coach-to-player communications, while a VHF channel supports FBI services
and 700 MHz and 800 MHz channels link police and fire crews in and around the
stadium.
“In addition to being a football showcase, the Dallas Cowboys’
new stadium will feature the world’s leading technology solutions,” said Matt
Melester, vice president and general manager, Wireless Innovations, Andrew.
“Andrew is proud to contribute its extensive expertise to this project as the
only provider who can offer turnkey, end-to-end RF wireless infrastructure solutions.
The result will be a more positive experience for fans and greater communications
capabilities for Cowboys officials and staff.”
Dallas Cowboys’ New Stadium Network Facts
• The new stadium’s infrastructure required
more than five million feet of CommScope SYSTIMAX copper and fiber cabling,
roughly the walking distance from Dallas to Chicago. Of that amount, the stadium
will use approximately 2.7 million feet of SYSTIMAX GigaSPEED X10D® cabling.
That entire cable length would stretch approximately from Dallas to Houston
to Austin and back to Dallas.
• With its enormous 600-ton scoreboard
and the roughly 2,800 monitors positioned throughout the stadium, the stadium
will be the world’s largest IPTV installation.
• The new data center at the stadium will
serve as the Cowboys’ enterprise data center, supporting the stadium and the
Cowboy’s facilities at Valley Ranch.
• The CommScope network installations,
which started in September 2008, will have taken nine months to complete.
• The Cowboys’ SYSTIMAX iPatch System
installation will be a first for NFL stadiums. The system will help Dallas Cowboys
IT staff document and manage activity from more than 40,000 copper and fiber
ports.
• The stadium will have 69 intermediate
distribution frames (IDFs) and a single data center.
CommScope Enterprise Solutions, a division of CommScope,
Inc., offers a complete portfolio of network infrastructure solutions that enable
enterprise customers, regardless of size, industry or IT budget, to take advantage
of business and technology opportunities. The division’s SYSTIMAX® and Uniprise®
product lines offer voice, data, video and converged solutions ranging from
mission-critical, high-bandwidth and emerging applications to applications that
demand unrelenting reliability and quality for everyday needs. Backed by CommScope
Labs, the product lines are delivered through a global channel network of industry-leading
BusinessPartners and distributors, ensuring a consistent and high-level of service
and support worldwide.
Andrew offers operators worldwide a complete portfolio
of coverage and capacity products that includes Node repeaters, indoor
antennas, and passive devices in addition
to ION optical distribution systems and RADIAX® radiating cable. The company
boasts over 15 years of experience in designing, testing, installing and managing
complicated wireless signal distribution systems for metropolitan railways,
tramways, and other large-sized construction projects. Among numerous other
projects, Andrew previously was chosen to provide coverage and capacity for
the Turin, Italy underground in
advance of the 2006 Winter Olympics and for many of the 2006 World Cup venues in Germany.
The company has installed systems on numerous high-speed rail systems, including
those in Taiwan, Spain, Switzerland, Norway and People’s Republic of China.
– END –
SYSTIMAX, GigaSPEED X10D, iPatch, Uniprise and RADIAX
are registered trademarks of CommScope, Inc. ION, Andrew Solutions and
Enterprise Solutions are trademarks of CommScope, Inc.
About CommScope
CommScope, Inc. (NYSE: CTV – www.commscope.com) is a world leader
in infrastructure solutions for communication networks. Through its Andrew® brand, it is a global leader in radio frequency
subsystem solutions for wireless networks. Through its SYSTIMAX® and Uniprise® brands, CommScope is a world leader in network
infrastructure solutions, delivering a complete end-to-end physical layer
solution, including cables and connectivity, enclosures, intelligent software
and network design services, for business enterprise applications. CommScope
also is the premier manufacturer of coaxial cable for broadband cable television networks and one of the leading North
American providers of environmentally secure cabinets for DSL and FTTN applications. Backed by strong
research and development, CommScope combines technical expertise and
proprietary technology with global manufacturing capability to provide
customers with infrastructure solutions for evolving global communications
networks in more than 130 countries around the world.
News Media Contact:
Rick Aspan, CommScope +1 708-236-6568 or publicrelations@andrew.com
Brett Daniels, Dallas Cowboys +1 972-556-9954 or bdaniels@dallascowboys.net
Investor Contact: Phil Armstrong, CommScope +1 828-323-4848
This press release includes forward-looking statements
that are based on information currently available to management, management’s
beliefs, as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events. Forward-looking
statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of
uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results to differ
materially from those currently expected. For a more detailed description
of the factors that could cause such a difference, please see CommScope’s filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In providing forward-looking
statements, the company does not intend, and is not undertaking any obligation
or duty, to update these statements as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise.
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