Summary: An authority within an NFL football team decided to go paperless for season tickets at its game stadium without understanding the implications of that decision – that there would be thousands of people trying to access the Internet over the same spectrum band at the same time in a very small geographic region. So, the cell towers did not have the available bandwidth to support that massive influx of demand and usage. This resulted in a condition called, Spectrum Saturation, or the inability to access the Internet. What resulted was a high level of frustration, partly because the fans didn’t understand why they couldn’t access their tickets. It was a time critical scenario: fans waiting in line, trying to access their tickets to get to their seats before the game started.

With my previous blogs, I am hopeful I have been painting a picture that we have a capacity problem coming in the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) that is not getting addressed. Additionally, there is a high level of ignorance (no offense, I simply mean, lack of knowledge) around what it means to operate in the spectrum. Two Sundays ago, my sister came over for dinner and told me a story that gave me chills. I want to share it with you now. I think it paints a perfect picture of what is going on (or not going on) in spectrum planning and how far we haven’t come since 9/11/01 – that’s right Folks, that’s not a typo. In 20 years, based on this story I am about to tell, one could argue we haven’t made any progress in empowering the people with authority to “go paperless” at a particular venue to consider the capacity of the spectrum. So, here goes…

At the opening game of the New England Patriots against the Miami Dolphins on September 12, 2021, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA (NE Pats lost, by the way), a decision had been made weeks before (months before?) to “Go Paperless” for tickets for the entire season at Gillette. Guess what happened that day? 70,000 fans descended on the stadium, expecting to access their tickets on their Smart Phones and other devices. There was not enough capacity in the spectrum for that density of users in that geographical space, so many couldn’t access their tickets. The spectrum became saturated. This occurrence is so profoundly important, it bears repeating in bold letters:

70,000 fans descended on Gillette Stadium on Sept 12, 2021, expecting to access their tickets on their Smart devices. There was not enough capacity in the electromagnetic spectrum (a.k.a. the cellular network) to accommodate that demand, and many could not access their tickets. They experienced, “Spectrum Saturation.”

Luckily for my sister, at the last moment, when she was on her way to the stadium, she tucked her tickets in her Apple Wallet. That put them resident on her phone, so she didn’t need to access the cellular data network to retrieve them. Tens of thousands of other people were not so lucky.

Several issues arise because of this event. First, the panic and frustration of the spectators and fans. Many people do not (and did not) understand why they couldn’t access their tickets. They certainly were not thinking, “Oh, the spectrum is jammed – too many users.” If they had been thinking that then they would have shut off their phones and “waited their turn” to access their tickets. Or maybe they figured out what was going on, but they weren’t about to give up their place in line (this is known as a Large-Scale Collective Action Problem – read about it). We are probably lucky there wasn’t a riot. It eventually sorted itself out over time, but not because someone told everyone in line to shut their phones off and wait their turn, but because eventually enough data was able to get through. However, the saturation still occurred. Second, the same thing happened nearly exactly 20 years ago at the World Trade Center on 9/11/01. Hundreds of emergency workers showed up to help with the crisis, and their radios were not programmed or designed to accommodate that much demand in that small an area using the EMS. Coupled with the panicked victims of the day trying to use their cellular phones, no one was able to communicate over the spectrum. The event of twenty years ago couldn’t have been avoided, but Gillette’s event could have been, which brings up the third issue.

The executive authorities of the NE Patriots who made the decision to go paperless for tickets had no idea there was the distinct probability for Spectrum Saturation, or, the complete congestion of the localized cellular band, resulting in a situation where patrons could not access the Internet to display their tickets. These authorities made the decision in complete ignorance of the limitations of spectrum, and without considering the density of users on the cellular network in that close space and at the small window of time, e.g., a half an hour before the game started. They were in “Denial of Spectrum Denial. No one had educated the authorities, the ticket takers, or the patronizing public to understand there are limitations in the spectrum, so the decision to go 100% Digital/Paperless without this knowledge caused problems. Thankfully, this wasn’t a matter of life and death like 9/11/01 was, but how can this be allowed to continue?

We don’t know what corrective action was taken, but we are confident of this: there is no new policy, no cataloguing of a Lesson Learned, so no one will have put in place a corrective action to avoid this situation in the future. Fans who read this blog today can benefit by considering this. Here is the Lesson Learned – coming to you gratis from the RVJ Institute, Inc.:

You cannot depend 100% on access to the Internet, to the Cloud, or to the electromagnetic spectrum at any time or at any place; therefore, you must take precautions to be able to conduct your business, be it navigate, communicate, or have assured access to your football game tickets.

Until we manifest a high level of awareness and understanding among all users, decision makers, and everyone in between (telecoms?) as to the limitations of spectrum, we will continue to experience events like this. Who is standing up to ameliorate these kinds of issues? Thankfully, the RVJ Institute, Inc. is.

Kindly consider donating to the Institute to help further its mission to educate the user-public on the downfalls and limitations of the electromagnetic spectrum – the mantle upon which all data, cell phone calls, Internet shopping, emails and texts and game tickets rides. A safe and secure future for everyone depends on it.