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Verizon adding small cells in Grant Park to boost data capacity for Lollapalooza

Jul 27, 2015 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) With the Lollapalooza music festival about to bring tens of thousands of extra visitors to the downtown area, most with smartphones, Verizon Wireless has decided to increase its available data capacity in Grant Park.

Photo Credit: J. DeSalvo, Lollapalooza, 2013

Verizon has installed 12 new small cells, designed to boost network capacity in highly populated areas, around Grant Park, according to a statement from the company.

Small cells are “strategically positioned within Verizon’s existing network coverage area to add additional 4G LTE capacity where it’s needed,” the statement said.

“Data use grows almost exponentially when you have a lot of people congregated in one location over the course of three days,” said Brian Pascoe, region president of Verizon Wireless.

It’s become the trend for people to share their experiences at live events via social media, which has only meant an increase in data traffic, he said.

During the recent Blackhawks parade and Soldier Field rally, Verizon customers used 4.8 TB of data (one TB can hold about 3.6 million 300 KB photo images, or 300 hours of high-quality video).

“This recent addition of small cells to Grant Park is part of a two-year plan to more than double our already existing 134 small cells in the city of Chicago,” Pascoe said.

The small cells are hidden on existing infrastructure such as light poles, traffic lights and power poles—and you would likely never notice them unless you knew exactly what to look for, he said.

Palos Park police warn of Verizon phishing attempts

Feb 13, 2015 |

(PALOS PARK) Palos Park police are cautioning residents of the southwest suburb after some Verizon Wireless customers have reported phishing attempts by phone.

In a statement, police said Verizon Wireless customers were called by someone purporting to be a representative of the company, though the number that showed up on caller ID was a “0.”

The person on the phone then asks the customer if they would recommend Verizon to a friend or colleague and how satisfied they were with recent Verizon store visits, police said.

According to police, once the survey is completed, the person claiming to be from Verizon said “In appreciation for taking the survey we would like to apply a $20 bill credit to your account. In order to do that if you could please provide me with the last 4 digits of your social security number and the password on your account we can get that added.”

The exact number of phishing attempts was not specified in the statement.

Police also said corporate security from Verizon has been made aware of the phishing attempts and urge residents to contact police if they receive similar calls.