We’ve all experienced the frustration of not being able to send photos or videos of the action at a concert or sports event due to overloaded cellular networks. However, AT&T will soon let customers throw money at the problem, even if the network congestion is another provider’s fault.
The Turbo Live option AT&T announced Wednesday offers what the carrier vaguely describes as “a special data boost that helps smartphones work better in crowded places.”
The name evokes the Turbo add-on that AT&T began selling last year as a $7/month upgrade with “enhanced data connectivity for real-time responsiveness,” but Turbo Live is not an ongoing subscription open to any subscriber. Instead, it’s a power-up offered only in designated spots and subject to capacity limits and variable rates that might evoke surge pricing.
“With a limited amount of passes available, the pricing structure is designed to make sure Turbo Live customers get the best value and the VIP experience is protected,” spokesman Michael Delgado wrote in an email. “Turbo Live starts at $5 per event with a variable structure that changes depending on the caliber of the event.”
AT&T says it will start offering Turbo Live in “early February” in 11 stadiums and arenas in the following places:
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Atlanta: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
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Chicago: United Center
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East Rutherford, NJ: MetLife Stadium
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Houston: NRG Stadium
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Las Vegas: The Sphere
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Los Angeles: Intuit Dome
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Miami: Hard Rock Stadium
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San Antonio, TX: Alamodome
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Santa Clara, CA: Levi’s Stadium
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Seattle: Lumen Field
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Tuscaloosa, AL: Bryant Denny Stadium
The football stadium closest to AT&T’s headquarters that also bears the company’s name–AT&T Stadium in Dallas–is listed as coming soon, along with Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, and SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
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We had to ask if Turbo Live would be available at an event infamous for having wireless bandwidth crumple, CES; Delgado replied that AT&T plans “to expand our product into spaces like convention centers, festivals, and more.”
Subscribers to other services will need an unlocked phone that supports eSIMs–and will therefore need enough bandwidth to download an eSIM if they decide to take AT&T up on this offer. The unlocked-device requirement will rule out T-Mobile phones bought from that carrier on an installment-payment plan that still have a balance owed. The FCC’s move last week to release Verizon from a rule requiring automatic unlocks 60 days after a phone purchase suggests that future Verizon subscribers will soon face the same limit.
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One question AT&T did not answer: Whether this new service will run on a separate network slice, a 5G feature AT&T unlocked when it switched on “standalone” 5G service in October. Operating a 5G network that doesn’t need 4G bandwidth to open a connection to phones allows an operator to partition its bandwidth into slices with different capacities and priorities. See, for example, T-Mobile launching a SuperMobile network-sliced service for businesses in August.
Turbo Live looks a lot like a slice, but Delgado sent along a statement Thursday that leaves its underlying technology a bit of mystery.
“This solution delivers state-of-the-art 5G technology to consumers at premier events, placing it at the forefront of innovation and connectivity,” it read. “Turbo Live builds upon AT&T’s proven Turbo technology platform, creating a unique network environment around the stadium in order to ensure customers receive the high-quality experience they expect.”
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