Dense Air and Millennium Parking Garages deliver breakthrough download speeds of 250 Mbps, transforming cellular connectivity underground

CHICAGO, Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Dense Air and Millennium Parking Garages are excited to announce the successful completion of a groundbreaking pilot project, aimed at enhancing cellular connectivity in challenging, hard-to-reach locations through seamless integration with AT&T and T-Mobile networks.

In early May, Dense Air and Millennium Parking Garages embarked on a unique partnership to transform Millennium Parking Garages into a test bed for innovative cellular network solutions. The collaboration focused on overcoming one of the most daunting challenges in connectivity: delivering reliable service deep underground through impermeable building materials.

We are thrilled to announce that our teams have delivered on their promise. By rapidly deploying the cellShare™ multi-carrier small cell solution, we successfully addressed the connectivity challenges in the underground garage. The project achieved continuous cellular coverage from entrance to exit in weeks vs. traditional solutions that are completed over months and even years.   

"We've tried before to improve cellular communications within Millennium Garages, but our partnership with Dense Air marks a significant step towards a scalable connectivity solution," said Issac Riggs, Chief Operations Officer, Millennium Garages. "They have given us confidence with their innovative design, rapid build, seamless integration with the carriers' networks, and most importantly, delivering exactly what they promised: a pilot testbed enabling seamless cellular connectivity."

To establish the foundational network in phase one, teams developed an efficient design and deployment strategy that ensured minimal disruption, a small footprint, rapid implementation, public cloud connectivity, and seamless integration with T-Mobile and AT&T. Millennium Parking Garages supplied the facility infrastructure, an enterprise network with a fiber backbone, a gigabit enterprise network circuit, and two micro server rooms with rack space to support the build of the solution. Dense Air then overlaid a cloud server for centralized management, along with other network elements, and deployed fiber-connected indoor radios for robust connectivity.

During the second phase, Dense Air, in collaboration with AT&T and T-Mobile, extended the public network through advanced software and network configurations, ensuring a direct, high-quality connection for AT&T & T-Mobile's subscribers. Users experienced a strong, reliable cellular service with enhanced data speeds and voice quality.

"We are very pleased with the improved connectivity and experience the Dense Air neutral host solution provides for our customers. These types of innovative solutions are an important part of providing additional coverage in challenging areas such as an underground garage," said JR Wilson, Vice President of Tower Strategy and Roaming at AT&T.

The pilot results are impressive – the user experience has been transformed from ZERO coverage to download speeds reaching up to 250 Mbps. This dramatic improvement now allows customers to initiate voice and video calls, send texts and emails, download apps and photos, and, critically, maintain a call while entering or exiting the garage. Notably, the deployment cycle for this build was among the fastest in the industry, taking 28 days total —an impressive feat compared to traditional distributed antenna system (DAS) deployments.

During Lollapalooza, a 4-day music fest in Chicago's Grant Park with record-breaking crowds, people using the cellular network in the pilot area saw download speeds as high as 160Mbps, even during the busiest times. On average, download speeds were around 40Mbps during those peak periods. Despite the crowded environment and heavy network demand, these speeds allowed users to seamlessly access QR codes prior to exiting, stream videos, browse the web, and use apps without noticeable delays.

As Millennium Parking Garages moves into the next phase of this project, several use cases to improve the customer's connectivity experience will be explored including:

• Navigation wayfinding / find my car
• EV (electrical vehicle) charging
• Digital signage
• Connected sensors (occupancy, environmental conditions, etc.)

This project not only sets a new standard for rapid deployment and reliable service in the industry but also underscores Dense Air's ongoing commitment.

"The successful integration and deployment of our cellShare™ solution in Millennium's underground parking garage marks a significant achievement in transforming connectivity in the most challenging environments. By seamlessly integrating with AT&T and T-Mobile networks and delivering unparalleled connectivity solutions, we have empowered both our partners and their customers with seamless connectivity." Jim Estes, CEO Dense Air.

To learn more about the cellShare™ design, installation, and integration into the carrier's networks, please download our case study.  

About Dense Air

Dense Air is leading the innovation of shared wireless networks that deliver secure and expanded coverage, making connectivity more open, shared, and inclusive. Dense Air's cellShare™ offers a unique end-to-end, Connectivity-as-a-Service solution, with a flexible financial model designed to solve wireless network coverage and capacity gaps. Providing multi-operator, small cell solutions that are resilient, flexible, and more cost effective than existing alternatives, Dense Air's cellShare™ solution ensures comprehensive in-building and outdoor cellular coverage, enabling seamless communications for operators, enterprises, and urban areas. www.denseair.net

About Millennium Garages

Millennium Garages is a publicly owned, privately operated infrastructure joint venture that spans 3.8 million square feet in downtown Chicago. As the largest downtown public underground parking system in the United States, Millennium's four facilities offer daily, monthly, and long-term parking for Chicago commuters, residents, visitors, and fleet customers. Millennium Garages and its partners use technology and cross-sector collaboration to enhance urban mobility, including large-scale electric vehicle charging. www.MillenniumGarages.com

About AT&T

We help more than 100 million U.S. families, friends and neighbors, plus nearly 2.5 million businesses, connect to greater possibility. From the first phone call 140+ years ago to our 5G wireless and multi-gig internet offerings today, we @ATT innovate to improve lives. For more information about AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), please visit us at about.att.com. Investors can learn more at investors.att.com.

About T-Mobile US, Inc.

T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) is America's supercharged Un-carrier, delivering an advanced 4G LTE and transformative nationwide 5G network that will offer reliable connectivity for all. T-Mobile's customers benefit from its unmatched combination of value and quality, unwavering obsession with offering them the best possible service experience and undisputable drive for disruption that creates competition and innovation in wireless and beyond. Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile provides services through its subsidiaries and operates its flagship brands, T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile. For more information please visit: https://www.t-mobile.com.

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SOURCE Dense Air