DAS will improve data, cellular by 2016
The city of Santa Clara, Calif., is looking to enhance cellular and Wi-Fi services by installing an outdoor distributed antenna system in busy parts of town.
Projected for completion early in 2016, the DAS is owned by the city government and connected to Silicon Valley Power’s fiber-optic network. The DAS, which will accommodate future expansions, is planned for an area bounded by the Great America theme park, Santa Clara Convention Center and Levi’s Stadium.
AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and other carriers will have access to the new DAS.
DAS Group Professionals will build, operate and maintain the new system. That group, based in Walnut Creek, Calif., also deployed the in-building DAS for Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers pro football team.
“DAS Group Professionals has an excellent record for developing distributed antenna systems,” John Roukema, director of Silicon Valley Power, said in a statement.
“They also presented the City with a positive financial model while providing a valuable benefit to our community,” he said.
Silicon Valley Power has operated for a century and provides utilities to more than 50,000 customers including Intel, Owens Corning, Nvidia and others.
A DAS essentially consists of a number of cellular antennas that work as repeaters. The antennas are placed in spots of poor coverage and connected to a wired network through cabling.
Indoor DAS, or iDAS, is becoming increasingly prevalent and costly as stadium, convention center and other venue owners work to provide customers with robust connectivity despite crowds and physical impediments.
