Chad Gerth, general manager of Maple Lake-based MP Mobile Solutions, helped oversee installation of a new telecommunications system for texts, streaming videos and cellphone service at the Minnesota State Fair.
Gerth, who holds the same title with parent company MP Nexlevel, said the system would guarantee delivery of an estimated eight million texts and data from perhaps 200,000 daily visitors plus vendors, staff and emergency responders.
The installation uses distributed antenna system (DAS) technology, a network of 56 2-foot-square panel antennas placed on eight fairgrounds buildings, along with miles of fiber optic cable and 36,000 feet of coaxial cable, Gerth said. The permanent DAS system replaces portable "cell on wheels" towers each carrier previously used.
"Everything should be invisible to the user," aside from the antennas, Gerth said. "If we did our job right they should know nothing other than their phone works."
The DAS installation is the company's first, said Gerth, an 18-year industry veteran.
It helps diversify a division that in the past five years has grown from $1 million sales to an estimated $10 million this year under his leadership.
Family-owned MP Nexlevel, which Gerth said has yearly revenue of about $300 million, owns the DAS system, which carriers are leasing under 10-year contracts.
MP Nexlevel, which began doing excavation work in 1973, is full-service utility contractor with offices and yards in 10 states.
Construction began the week before last year's fair and was completed in June, Gerth said.
Work to design the DAS system for each carrier's signal began three years ago.
Q: Are you a regular fairgoer and how will that change this year?
A: I try to get out every year and now this year will be unique in that we're going to be basically living on site. We're going to have the manufacturer of the gear on site for the first week and an engineering team on call.
Q: What brought you to MP Nexlevel?
A: The opportunity of [working for] a company with the backing of a large company that was really a family-based company. If you can make them a dollar they're willing to give you the dollar to make them another dollar. They have trust in you.
Q: What's the future for DAS systems like this?
A: No one has the formula to see how to sell this product and get it installed. We may be figuring it out. Not too many companies can spend millions on a system, build it, maintain it and sit on that capital while trying to get paid by carriers.
