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Record amount of data used by fans at Indy 500

Posted at 2:28 PM, Jun 01, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-01 14:55:36-04

INDIANAPOLIS -- Just how much time did people spend on their cellphones over Indy 500 weekend?

Verizon says from May 27 through May 29, its customers used 20.8 terabytes of data.  That's double the amount used by fans in 2015.

So how much data is that exactly? One terabyte is equal to streaming about 1,000 hours of online video content. In other words: 21,000 hours of streaming is equal to how much data people used race weekend.

More than 10 terabytes of data was used by Verizon customers between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m on race day alone.

Not surprisingly, the highest data usage came at the beginning of the race. The second highest was when Juan Pablo Montoya crashed his car.

As Call 6 Investigates reported last week, Verizon made major upgrades before the Indy 500 to handle all the data traffic.

The carrier worked with IMS to put permanently mounted antennas inside the track. 

Verizon also brought in a 'bunker' to help maintain cell service before, during and after the race.

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