Offering guest access to wireless services gives Mohegan Sun a competitive advantage

The Background

Mohegan Sun is one of the largest, most distinctive and spectacular entertainment, gaming, shopping and meeting destinations in the United States. Situated on 240 acres along the Thames River in the rolling southeast Connecticut countryside, its lavish amenities, stunning décor, and lush setting attract millions of visitors each year.

The convention center and meeting area offer a prime venue for East Coast meetings with more than 100,000 square feet of space, including 25 meeting rooms, an elegant grand ballroom and a professionally managed business center.

A 1,200-room casino resort with world-class features and amenities, Mohegan Sun is a popular meeting and convention facility that caters to business professionals and other guests who use a variety of wireless devices and services. To support the communication needs of its convention area visitors and guests, Mohegan Sun wanted to offer consistent, reliable wireless coverage for access to multiple mobile services

The Challenge

The aesthetic design of the Mohegan Sun building incorporates an external coating that reflects sunlight. While creating a spectacular visual image, this reflective coating also blocks radio frequency (RF) signals, making it extremely difficult for 3G/4G signals to penetrate the structure.

outstanding amenities and services to its guests, Mohegan Sun wanted to provide seamless wireless connectivity and reliable access to multiple wireless services in the convention center and meeting rooms, including 3G/$G service for smartphones and public Wi-Fi for high-speed data and Internet access. Moreover, Mohegan Sun wanted a solution that didn’t require disruptive upgrades and additional equipment every time a new wireless service provider, protocol or application was added.

National wireless carriers such as AT&T and Sprint wanted to provide service in the conference center and meeting rooms in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. The only solution that would meet the resort’s requirements and provide consistent, reliable RF coverage was to install a distributed antenna system (DAS) capable of handling multiple services and providers as well as future protocols and applications.

The Solution

Mohegan Sun owners have a clear and progressive vision of the power of wireless services and applications for their guests and as an enterprise. Early on, they recognized the benefits and value of installing Black Box Corporation (BBOX) DAS, in the convention center and meeting areas. Capable of supporting multiple services, protocols and applications, the DAS met the wireless service provider and Mohegan Sun’s requirements.

BBOX’s system was installed and in less than a month, and a national service provider’s 3G service was added to the system, so their subscribers would have consistent, high-quality coverage throughout the convention area to conduct business and stay in touch with friends and family.

Mohegan Sun’s owners say the benefits of partnering with BBOX and offering their guests access to wireless services through unrivaled wireless connectivity gives Mohegan Sun a competitive advantage that helps keep them at the forefront of the meeting and convention business.

“Mohegan Sun prides itself on providing world-class services and amenities to our guests and patrons,” said Jonathan Arnesen, Mohegan Sun’s senior vice president of operations. “As such, we want to offer cutting-edge technology that provides convenient, high-speed wireless connectivity to our guests in the convention and meeting areas. The BBOX DAS is ideal for our facility because it allows us to readily add new services without system upgrades, and it delivers a consistent, reliable blanket of in-building wireless coverage.”