Today, we all expect to use our mobile devices anytime, anywhere. We expect broadband access, high speed and reliable wireless communications everywhere we go.
If that happens to be a stadium with a sold-out crowd, we still expect to send and receive hi-res photo files, have access to social media, or video-call friends - even if 50,000 others are doing the same.
Behind the scenes is a hugely complex in-building design technology that makes it all happen.
Enter Ventia's Specialised Coverage Solutions (SCS) team who design and deliver state-of-the-art telecommunications technology solutions that enable high speed and more reliable wireless voice and data services in the most challenging places.
We are obsessed with doing things better than before, thinking differently and having the confidence to propose innovative solutions.
Pictured: The Ventia Specialised Covrerage Solutions Team
The team recently implemented several ground-breaking innovations as part of its Distributed Antenna System (DAS) at the redeveloped Sydney Football Stadium, including using brand-new lens antenna technology, the first time this has been proposed in Australia.
This innovation saw Adrian Cornale and the SCS team recognised as winners of the Innovation category at our Redefining Service Excellence Awards.
"We are obsessed with doing things better than before, thinking differently and having the confidence to propose innovative solutions," said Adrian Cornale, SCS Engineering Manager. "That's what sets Ventia apart from its competitors."
Traditionally, stadiums use conventional antennas, which can be likened to megaphones. They blast radiofrequency (RF) energy across a broad area and do a reasonable job, but service quality suffers, and capacity is limited as interference between multiple signals is difficult to contain.
Pictured: The completed Sydney Football Stadium
New lens antenna technology, however, uses a sphere containing patented metamaterial to focus the RF beam, the way a magnifying glass concentrates light. RF can be directed to a concentrated footprint servicing a cluster of seats, or certain sections of a stadium. The result is massive reductions in interference levels, and therefore increased overall service quality and capacity.
"With the successful application of lens antenna technology at Sydney Football Stadium, we have set a new standard in the way mobile coverage is provided for major Australian venues," said Adrian.
"The great work hasn't stopped: the Ventia SCS team is now working on a lens antenna solution for Stadium Australia that's triple the size!"
With his typical humility, Adrian accepted the Innovation award on behalf of the entire SCS team, without which, he said, the project would not have succeeded