Major U.S. telecom operators announced network upgrades to meet expected traffic demands of this week’s NFL Super Bowl – both within the stadium and in the greater Phoenix region.

Nearly all of the deployments made by Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile US are touted as permanent upgrades to the area with preparations ongoing since last year.

Operators invested heavily last year in their networks, pursuing spectrum, building scalable fiber networks, and tapping into 5G-enabled fixed-wireless access (FWA) services. And each operator is making extensive efforts to see to it that no customer leaves this year’s Super Bowl connection-crabby.

Verizon, as the official sponsor of the NFL and this year’s Super Bowl, released its “‘Super’ network wins” within the city of Phoenix.

A Verizon spokesperson shared with SDxCentral that the carrier has invested $107 million in network upgrades that began last year with 5G deployments throughout Phoenix and neighboring cities like Tempe, Chandler, and Scottsdale.

To avoid vexed Verizon subscribers during the game, the carrier also deployed 1,400 5G antennas under stadium seats, 490 5G nodes throughout the arena, and eight MatSing lens antennas across the field. Further updates have been made in the Westgate Entertainment District next to the stadium with an additional 90 4G and 180 5G nodes installed.

The telecom operator emphasized a focus on its command center “specifically designed to help engineers find issues in the network” before customers.

Not being an official NFL sponsor, T-Mobile US announced upgrades for the “Big Game,” touting a 10x-increase in speed at State Farm Stadium as well as a 4x-increase in data speed across the greater Phoenix region. The carrier claims they are permanent upgrades to serve its customer base “for the long run, even with nearly one million people expected to arrive” for the game.

At State Farm Stadium, T-Mobile US added support for its deep 2.5 GHz spectrum to that venue's distributed antenna systems (DAS). Outside of the stadium, T-Mobile used a combination of tower deployments, wireless backhaul using up to 100-megahertz of its 2.5 GHz spectrum, and 5G small cells “to densify the network in areas where crowds are expected.”

AT&T within the stadium boosted its network with more than 2,0000 antennas as well as 12 miles of “fiber and power cables” to support 5G and commercial 4G LTE services. Within Phoenix, the carrier deployed 64 outdoor antennas and an additional 15 miles of fiber and power cables to support the carrier's network.

AT&T network support will also tie into its FirstNet first-responders network, which will also gain mobile back-up solutions like satellite cell on light trucks (SatCOLTs), cell on wheels (COWs), and compact rapid deployables to support public safety in the Phoenix area. FirsNet has used this technology geographically challenging areas like the Navajo Nation’s reservation.

“The FirstNet team from AT&T will set up their portable assets in advance of the game," AT&T VP Adam Schieber told SDxCentral. "Their satellite COLTs will be on standby if needed in an emergency. Our Response Operations Group – former first responders themselves – has deployed a team to be on standby with public safety for when [or] if needed.”

The COWs are the only temporary measure for the game, while the other deployments are permanent, Schieber added.

AT&T is also using the Super Bowl to highlight plans made last year to expand its fiber footprint into the state of Arizona. The carrier has continued to push a fiber-forward agenda through its recent joint venture with BlackRock.

Under the newly formed Gigapower joint venture – not to be confused with AT&T’s previous “GigaPower” broadband offering – the two will deploy a multi-gigabit fiber network to 1.5 million customer locations outside of AT&T current fiber footprint using a commercial open access platform. This will be additional to AT&T’s own fiber deployment plans targeted at reaching more than 30 million locations within its 21-state wireline footprint by the end of 2025.

The carrier did not disclose any additional information regarding the project's rollout timeline in Arizona.