It might be the NFL and Comcast/NBCU’s day, but for those in and around Phoenix for Super Bowl XLIX Cox, Communications will certainly be in play.
The leading distributor in the nation’s 13th largest DMA is the provider inside the University of Phoenix in Glendale, Ariz., site of the NFL championship game. Cox has hundreds of phone lines within the facility, which is managed by Global Spectrum, part of Comcast Spectacor, and will provide pictures via cable video in the venue. NBC has the broadcast rights to what will be the biggest telecast of 2015 and possibly in U.S. TV history.
Cox officials said in order to better serve the needs of the 78,000 attending the Big Game, it pulled in a new Gigabit circuit, as well as several primary rate interfaces (high-end voice switches).
The MSO is also furnishing additional infrastructure to support a number of the events taking place ahead of the title tilt, and its video signals will be front and center at a number of hotels in the area
But Cox’s best Super Bowl play, though, will come on the WiFi side of the line.
Cox is opening up more than 1,200 hotspots in the Valley of the Sun to the public for free during the Super Bowl XLIX week. It's also continuing to add additional temporary hotspots to high-traffic areas to help keep Valley residents and tourists stay connected.
In addition to its extant WiFi hotspots that are already available to Cox customers, hotspots have been installed at Super Bowl Central in downtown Phoenix, just north of US Airways Center; the Fan Fest in Scottsdale at Fashion Square;, and in the east and west parking lots, just south of the University of Phoenix Stadium on game day.
Cox said it activated the 1,200 WiFi Hotspots late last year, and additional hotspots are being implemented on a monthly base. The launch came on the heels of the company's announcement that residential gigabit internet speeds are now available in the Phoenix metro area -- Cox's first market in the country to offer residential Gig service. Cox customers can taps speeds 100 times faster than the average speed in the market today.
Cox WiFi hotspots can also be found by entering a user's location at www.cox.com/hotspots. Users can also click on a WiFi icon on the map or download the Cox Connect app for iPhone and Android devices to immediately access directions to or from the specific WiFi hotspot address. Once a user has logged onto a Cox WiFi or cable WiFi hotspot, his or her wireless device will automatically recognize and logon to other Cox WiFi and cable WiFi hotspots for up to two years.
The MSO also will have a presence at the NFL Experience in the "Characters Unite End Bullying Zone." An End Bullying Zone Playbook will be ready electronically on Jan. 23 for students, teachers and parents as a supplement/study guide to flank the "Characters Unite" NFL documentary that will air Friday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. on USA Network. The film will be available Feb. 7 to Cox subscriber via its video on demand platform.
