The News: T-Mobile has enhanced its 5G network in Las Vegas to prepare for the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix Formula 1 auto race from November 16 to 18 to ensure reliable calls, texting, and other services for T-Mobile customers as hundreds of thousands of spectators are expected at the new event. T-Mobile, which signed on as the exclusive wireless provider for the race, deployed a 5G Advanced Network Solutions (ANS) Public Mobile Network, which it says will permanently bolster its Ultra Capacity 5G network around the city to maintain high-performance services for the participants, visitors, and residents. Read the full press release on the T-Mobile website to learn more about T-Mobile’s participation at the first-ever Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix Gets Boosted 5G Services from T-Mobile
Analyst Take: T-Mobile’s participation as the exclusive wireless network provider at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix follows an ongoing trend that features wireless carriers and networking companies that sign special deals to bolster wireless services at special events and happenings where huge crowds of people gather. These kinds of network service deals have been featured more and more over the past few years for the NFL’s Super Bowl, the MLB’s World Series, and other special sporting and entertainment events.
For T-Mobile, this 5G upgrade deal and deployment has been underway for more than a year as the mobile carrier worked hard to improve and provide expanded services for attendees of Las Vegas’ first major Formula 1 race in the streets around the city. Chicago held its own first ever NASCAR auto race through its downtown this past July with its NASCAR Chicago Street Race, which brought large crowds of spectators and fans. Boosting local 5G networks to cope with the expanded demand has become part of these events and is a great publicity and services fulfillment opportunity for mobile carriers.
Under the deal as the exclusively wireless network provider for the Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix, T-Mobile customers will automatically receive enhanced 5G connectivity, while non-customers can connect to T-Mobile Wi-Fi at no charge so that they can also make or receive calls, texts, or social media posts in the city during the weekend’s race activities. T-Mobile will be the exclusive wireless provider of the event through 2025.
Las Vegas Grand Prix Race and Connectivity Details
The Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix race will be held through downtown Las Vegas, including on the famous Strip. The track’s route along the streets covers 50 laps of the 3.8 mile long (6.12 km) course and will feature Formula 1 car top speeds of more than 212 mph (342 km/h). The street course route includes three main straightaways and 17 corners per lap.
In my view, this deal to bolster T-Mobile’s 5G network for its customers and its available free Wi-Fi services for other attendees and residents who are customers of other mobile carriers is a clever move. And what makes it more valuable for Las Vegas is that this setup is not temporary for the race weekend. These T-Mobile 5G improvements were brought in as permanent improvements that will continue to bring better performance for the community over the long term. That, I believe, is a smart business strategy that can of course bring more customers to T-Mobile in the future due to this corporate goodwill and investment. Wherever one lives, you want your mobile carrier to be the carrier that provides the best local service so that your 5G services are top quality. This approach shows smart thinking from T-Mobile.
The hybrid 5G setup for the races, using T-Mobile’s 5G ANS Public Mobile Network and its T-Mobile Wi-Fi services, is designed to cover all the needs of attendees, residents, and visitors, providing important connectivity for high-speed, high-capacity, and low-latency connectivity. Under the plans, T-Mobile is also leveraging network slicing on its 5G standalone network to power more than 100 point-of-sale terminals where racing fans can buy refreshments and souvenirs around the downtown.
What This All Means for the Inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix
T-Mobile is pulling no punches here as it prepares to shine with its 5G services at the first Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix, bringing in the needed capacity, technical expertise, connectivity, and engineers to make this project a success. In my view, this offering is the way to make a popular splash and deliver a big success story for Las Vegas, Formula 1, mobile customers, and local officials and residents. I like these kinds of 5G service improvement deals that benefit special events and local communities, and I am sure that this is not the last one we will hear about from T-Mobile.
Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
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