Qwest's best-laid plans for DNC get last-minute twist

After more than a year of careful planning to accommodate the Democratic National Convention at Denver’s Pepsi Center, Qwest Communications found itself scrambling at the last minute to also wire that city’s Invesco Field at Mile High, when presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s campaign decided he would make his acceptance speech there.

And since Invesco, home of the Denver Broncos, is not already a Qwest customer and would be hosting a pre-season football game less than a week before Obama’s historic speech, Qwest is facing considerable complications getting fiber optic connections in place to accommodate the anticipated media coverage.

“The fact they announced a month ahead that they were going to use Invesco for the acceptance speech threw us a real challenge, because we had to figure out how do we get almost the same bandwidth and services at Invesco that we had at the Pepsi Center, but with a much tighter planning window,” said Chuck Ward, president of Qwest’s Colorado operations.

By its estimates, Qwest added approximately 2,600 additional data lines and 3,400 voice-grade circuits to serve both venues. The Qwest network has an aggregate data capacity of about 50 billion bits per second, and the company installed video equipment capable of handling 130 simultaneous video feeds at each of the venues.

While the two sites are only about a half-mile apart on the outskirts of Denver’s downtown business district, they are separated by a major freight rail line, a major interstate highway and the South Platt River, Ward said.

And while Kroenke Sports, which owns the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche and the Pepsi Center, is a customer of Qwest’s, the owners of Invesco Field at Mile High provide their own telecom operations.