A record-breaking number of more than 719,000 fans went to the Waste Management Phoenix Open this year, which is an increase of over 60,000 people from 2017.
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Photos by Mike Mertes, AZ BIG Media
More fans create more social media activity, and AT&T saw record-breaking data usage on its network:
• In total, customers used 14.6 terabytes (TB) of mobile data. (9.1 TB were used in 2017)
• That’s a 60% increase in mobile data usage compared to last year.
• What does that mean? To put it in perspective, 14.6 TB of data is the equivalent of posting nearly 41.7 million selfies or streaming nearly 1,800 hours of HD video.
The Waste Management Phoenix Open welcomed a record-breaking 719,179 people through its gates at TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course last week, the largest number for any PGA Tour event in history and smashing last year’s record of 655,434.
The tournament eclipsed 200,000 on Saturday alone for the third straight year, as a record 216,818 spectators watched during this year’s third round. After such monster numbers throughout the week, the tournament was only a few hundred people shy of breaking the week-long record with Sunday still remaining.
In order to manage the large number of smartphone users in Scottsdale, AT&T brought in 2 cell towers on wheels (COWs), which boosted network capacity by 300%. When fans grabbed their smartphones ready to share the most exciting moments on social media, they were able to connect to a faster, stronger network.
Large crowds also create public safety concerns. That’s why AT&T equipped first responders supporting the 2018 Waste Management Phoenix Open with a new communications platform built for public safety – FirstNet. With FirstNet devices, first responders no longer need to compete with commercial traffic for access to network resources. Instead, they have priority to quickly communicate and connect to critical information when they need it. You can read more about FirstNet at the Phoenix Open here.
