I swear we are not “Swifties”, but let’s talk about Rogers network data usage at BC Place Stadium during Taylor Swift’s final concert last night in Vancouver.
Rogers announced on Monday that fans at BC Place used over 11 terabytes (TB) of mobile data on December 8, setting a new Canadian record for data usage during a single event. This broke the previous record of 7.4 TB set just weeks earlier during her Toronto concert at Rogers Centre on November 21.
“Taylor fans use incredible amounts of data at her concerts to share the experience, and their data usage at the Vancouver shows have set a new bar for Rogers 5G network at a stadium event. Our 5G network at BC Place is brand new and we’re thrilled fans set a new record sharing this once-in-lifetime experience,” said Mark Kennedy, Chief Technology Officer, Rogers, in a statement.
The data used in Vancouver is equal to uploading 307,000 photos or streaming 2,180 hours of video. Fans shared videos and updates online, with the biggest data spikes happening when Taylor Swift took the stage and during the start of the “Reputation” era of her performance, said Rogers.
To handle the demand, Rogers upgraded its 5G network at BC Place (home of the BC Lions) before the event. The improvements, which included a full redesign and new in-stadium system, boosted network capacity by 38 times—equal to adding 20 cell towers in the area. Over three nights of performances, fans used a whopping 32 TB of data on Rogers 5G.
Rogers also set up temporary mobile units outside the stadium to ensure strong connections for the crowds gathered around BC Place.
I wonder if some fans who paid big for “no view” seats, used their phones to watch streams from those at the concerts with front-facing views to see what was actually going on. Now that’s some sort of Taylor Swift concert inception.
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Great. A stadium full of Swifties illegally streaming the concert to their followers to show how cool they are doesn't break Rogers, but some clown doing an upgrade to their systems can bring the entire network (and all the 3rd Party businesses that rely on the them) to a crashing halt for days.
I’m no Taylor Swift fan. In fact I can’t stand her on f’in bit, BUT: it is absolutely not illegal to post reels and live stories from a concert. It’s completely acceptable to do so in this day and age.
Let the dumb kids have their kind of fun, ok old man?
It may be ‘acceptable’ in the day and age, but it is still illegal. Much like shooting any live performance. Copyright laws amongst others. Rights not granted (and paid for) to shoot a performance. But not even Swift’s legal team can afford to prosecute all those doing it. Maybe those going to any show should put down their phones and enjoy the show live, rather than spend the time to show to their friends and followers that they were there. And its not just the ‘dumb kids’. And, as someone who works in the industry, I’m awaiting my fee for recording productions they chose to record.
Perfectly legal. The rules were (as emailed out to attendees in the "know before you go" email) do whatever you want on your mobile phone cameras, but not digital cameras and no flash photography.
They actually had two big screens for those “no view” seats.