- Verizon is bringing its fiber and 5G to Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade
- The operator told us how they set up multiple fiber circuits and upgraded wireless sites around the event
- All told, it takes around two weeks to set up
On a beautiful New York morning in an autumnal but bright Central Park, Fierce took in the large numbers of cops, municipal vehicles, stands and barricades already erected in preparation for tomorrow’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
(Photo by Dan Jones)
Also on hand: Verizon, which set up 20 fiber circuits and upgraded around the same number of 5G wireless cell sites to provide coverage for people to watch – and stream – the parade, as well as enabling NBC to cover the spectacle.
“When I started this was all done on dial-up. We were stealing lines out of payphones to make it work,” said John Tuffy, staff tech at Verizon. He said that Verizon started installing fiber circuits seven or eight years ago.
(Photo by Dan Jones)
Verizon tech Enzo Amati told us that he will be on hand at 4 a.m. tomorrow. They switch on their router at 5 a.m. to allow Macy’s to start ticketing people. A huge crowd assembles between then and 12 noon as the floats pass by.
The parade doesn’t require as many fiber circuits as the New York Marathon, he said. Verizon installed 30 circuits for that this year and had to deal with squirrels because it can’t run fiber cabling in the air.
Thankfully, the parade is a bit simpler because Verizon can run cabling more freely than it would in the park itself. The event requires that Verizon work with NBC and Macy’s to make it all happen.
(Photo by Dan Jones )
That includes inside the church where NBC has set up its broadcast center.
“As soon as Santa passes, it’s all over,” Amati said. The tear-down happens quickly. Added Tuffy: “By 1 o’clock, you won’t even know we were here.”
