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PIONEER PRESS: “GOP ATTENDEES WILL FIND BEEFED-UP NETWORKS FOR PHONES, BLOGS, VIDEO”

By Michael B. Brodkorb | March 24, 2008

"The broadband locusts are coming.

The 45,000 delegates, organizers, bloggers and reporters expected at the Republican National Convention from Sept. 1-4 will be toting bandwidth-eating cell phones, BlackBerrys and laptops.

Obsessive bloggers like Michael Brodkorb will put the Twin Cities' telecommunications networks to the test. The Eagan Republican and creator of MinnesotaDemocrats Exposed.com estimates that to cover the convention for the blog, he'll spend at least a couple of hours a day on his BlackBerry, as well as a few hours on his Macintosh laptop updating his blog with not just words but video and photos that consume big chunks of bandwidth.

'I expect to be 'hot' — meaning live on the Internet — from the moment I get to the convention to the moment I leave, and then I'll go home and do some more,' he said.

To avoid strains on the networks, the area's telecommunications providers are planning now to beef up their systems.

Verizon Wireless expects a 33 percent increase in voice calling and a 150 percent rise in data transmissions on its broadband network that blankets the downtowns in St. Paul and Minneapolis, where convention activities will be centered. Qwest Communications International will add more than 100 miles of fiber-optic and copper lines in and around the Xcel Energy Center, the convention's main site." Source: Pioneer Press, March 24, 2008

Click here for the complete story.

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I'm really looking forward to the Republican National Convention.  Check back for expanded coverage on Minnesota Democrats Exposed. 

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