“COTA is a world-class entertainment and sports facility, designed to make fond memories for all visitors. Extenet will help us improve the guest experience by advancing wireless services for the cellular providers throughout our venue, allowing fans to stay connected and share their COTA story.”– Bobby Epstein, Chairman and Co-Founder of Circuit of The Americas
Bringing Wireless Connectivity to America’s Largest Racetrack
Circuit of The Americas (COTA) is the preeminent venue in the United States for world-class motorsports and entertainment. Since 2012, the Circuit of The Americas, located on 1,500 acres of rolling hills just outside downtown Austin, has hosted the greatest names in racing, action sports, and music. At its core is a 3.41-mile racetrack designed to challenge the world’s most demanding competitors while providing spectators with an exhilarating show.
Circuit of The Americas is the only purpose-built facility in the United States designed to accommodate the world’s premier motorsports championships, such as Formula 1, MotoGP, NASCAR, and others. Circuit of The Americas has presented the world’s best drivers and motorcyclists with a combination of fast, sweeping sections and technical, tight corners.
- Only Formula 1 racetrack in the U.S.
- Hosts over 440,000 visitors for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix
- 120,000-person seating capacity
- More than 30 million domestic visitors come to Austin annually
- COTA averages over 1.2 million visitors a year
- An amusement park, called COTA Land, is being built between turns 19 and 20 on the track. It’ll feature more than two dozen rides and rollercoasters.
So, how does a venue of this size support mobility for over 21 million visitors annually? The renowned racetrack facility has a high-quality distributed network owned and operated by Extenet that provides fast, reliable communications to the growing number of spectators who use their mobile devices at the venue. To continue speeding ahead with Formula 1®, racing, and other events, Extenet is deploying fiber, the latest in 5G wireless technology, and supporting infrastructure to meet the demands of this world-class sports venue.
As an ongoing partner of COTA, the long-term contract grants Extenet exclusive access, installation, and operating rights at COTA to provide increased coverage and capacity throughout the expansive venue. As the incumbent services provider, Extenet will upgrade all existing fiber infrastructure to support the latest networking technologies, upgrading node locations to increase coverage and capacity while expanding the radio network to support the newest licensed 5G bands, as well as the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) to support Private Wireless Networking. This will allow COTA to continue building toward its goal of delivering the best holistic fan experience in sports and entertainment.
