The Democratic National Convention, set for next week in Denver, will be a high-tech affair. Qwest has laid down 3,400 standard voice lines and 2,600 new data lines, and has upgraded its infrastructure with 3,344 miles of fiber and 140 miles of copper and coaxial cable. The company also has deployed video equipment that can handle 130 simultaneous video feeds, and is providing convention goers with a 40Gbps Ethernet pipe.

"It will be 10 times the size of the Super Bowl," said Rick Mabry, Qwest's director of network operations. "The scale of this network is so large that instead of laying stuff down on the ground, we put it underground and are bringing it up to where it's needed." Besides landline web and voice connectivity, delegates, the press and others will have high-quality wireless voice and data services, and much more.

For details on the Denver convention:
- see this Network World.com article