10-year extension to include telecommunications services and upgrades
Mark Haley, president of Smart City Networks, the nation’s largest provider of event telecommunications and technology services for the conventions industry, announced today that the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio has extended its contract with the company for an additional 10 years, effective July 1, 2018. The contract extension, which was approved during a city council meeting, will allow Smart City to provide additional services and upgrades for the venue. Smart City has served as the facility’s technology provider since Jan. 14, 1999.
“Smart City has enjoyed a long-term partnership with the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, and we look forward to providing the facility with high-quality technology as the convention center’s expansion is completed early next year,” Haley said. “With the help of the convention center team, we have crafted a business model that ensures continued upgrades throughout the term of the agreement.”
The City of San Antonio, which owns and manages the facility, extended the contract, which will allow Smart City to immediately upgrade the center’s Category 6 cabling to enhance voice and data distribution services while more than tripling the density of its wireless coverage. In addition, the center’s primary backbone will be increased from 1 to 10 gigabit capability. This upgrade will allow for a greater number of guests and their wireless devices to access the Internet at ever-increasing speeds.
“Our current expansion will ensure that San Antonio can attract new, larger events to our city,” said Michael Sawaya, director of sports and convention facilities for the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. “Our partnership with Smart City and the proposed network upgrades will enable our much larger venue to be a ‘smarter’ venue capable of handling any event’s technology needs.”
Under the extended contract, Smart City will offer a full suite of services at the venue, including high-speed Internet access, network cabling, telephone services, WiFi and turnkey data networking services.
The Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center opened in 1968. The transformed facility, scheduled for completion in early 2016, will feature four exhibit halls with 514,000 square feet of prime, contiguous exhibit space. The center hosts approximately 350 events per year, including the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Texas Dental Association Annual Meeting and Texas Bandmasters Association Annual Convention. Other highlights of the building’s expansion include 87,000 square feet of column-free exhibit space; 72 meeting rooms; a new 54,000-square-foot ballroom, which will be the largest in Texas; and an eco-friendly design that uses energy reduction measures.
