Emergency Connectivity: Birmingham's Coca-Cola Amphitheater

The Problem

Birmingham’s new Coca-Cola Amphitheater was preparing to host comedian Matt Rife for its debut show. Despite preparations beginning well in advance and the venue team staying proactive throughout, the scheduled fiber delivery hit unforeseen delays and wasn’t going to be ready in time for opening weekend.

For a major new venue hosting its first show, that gap isn’t just inconvenient. With only a few days to go, the clock was running and there was no margin for error.

What We Built

Working under a hard deadline, we identified an existing DIA circuit with ample bandwidth at a nearby downtown Birmingham high-rise and used it as the foundation. We established a wireless link from that building to the amphitheater rooftop using bonded 6GHz and 5GHz point-to-point microwave, then extended a secure VPN tunnel back to the Alabama Lightwave Montgomery network core and MGMIX. That preserved full IP space consistency and routing control, so the connection behaved like a proper enterprise circuit rather than a cobbled-together workaround.

Real-world testing hit bursts of 700 Mbps to public speed test servers. The internet went live just in time. The show didn’t miss a beat.

The Network in Context

This project came together because the right people moved fast. Josh Adams at DBA facilitated access and key introductions when time was tight. Marc Negri at CTIConnect sourced the 6GHz radios quickly. Eagle Internet contributed 5GHz gear they had on the shelf. Ruben Pate at Cahaba Machine in Centreville rushed custom non-penetrating roof mounts. Anthony Polsinelli at Carbon Network Solutions delivered the network engineering services needed to establish the connection on short notice. Flytec Computers overnighted the NetPoint dishes. Reed Matte from a local fiber provider gave same-day response on a rushed site walk.

Emergency connectivity is a team sport. We are grateful for every one of them.

Part of Birmingham’s Comeback

The Coca-Cola Amphitheater is more than a new venue. Alongside Protective Stadium, TopGolf, the revitalization of Parkside, and the Innovation Depot’s tech-forward momentum, it’s part of a broader story of a city investing seriously in culture, commerce, and community.

Behind every thriving venue and major event, there’s infrastructure working in the background. This project was a reminder of what wireless can do when traditional options run out of time: deliver fast, dependable connectivity when and where it’s needed, with no excuses.

The Outcome

The venue went live with real-world bursts hitting 700 Mbps during testing. The debut show went on as planned, on time, without a missed beat.

Technologies Used