Dallas Cowboys from WFAA Sports
Cell service hard to come by in new Cowboys Stadium 
10:17 AM CDT on Thursday, June 11, 2009
ARLINGTON -- More than 60,000 people packed Cowboys Stadium for the George Strait concert Saturday and more than a few fans may have been overhead asking, "Can you hear me now?"
News 8 has learned there are problems with cell phone service inside the new stadium.
The Cowboys say the cell phone antennas inside the stadium are not completely in place. They knew it wouldn't be for the George Strait concert.
It was a historic night. Some excited fans wanted to instantly send pictures to their friends, but couldn't. Even our news crews who were covering the event couldn't reach each other, even though they were at the same place.
"While everyone may not have gotten out, almost a million people did get through," said Brett Daniels of the Dallas Cowboys.
There are more than 100 cell phone antennas that were built into the stadium, called a Distributed Antenna System, but they're not working yet.
"It's now just a matter of connecting the wiring and programming the system," said Daniels.
Each cell phone carrier has placed a temporary tower outside the stadium.
"These towers that are basically forcing these signals into the building, to catch all the phone calls and text messages," Daniels said.
Arlington Police who patrol the event use radios to respond to emergencies.
"Cell phones whether they work or don't work, whatever may come up, they don't impact our communication," said Arlington police spokeswoman Tiara Ellis Richard.
The Distributed Antenna System will not be in place for the next big concert. It is scheduled to be up and running by August 1.
For the Jonas Brothers concert June 20, Daniels says they are working will cell phone providers to beef up service at towers near the stadium.
