Stay connected at the Jamboree

Jambologo You already know that the 2010 National Scout Jamboree will be the best, most exciting, fun-filled, and safest jamboree ever. But now there's another superlative to add to the mix: "most connected."

Thanks to a unique partnership with AT&T, the site at Fort A.P. Hill, Va., which in the past has had spotty wireless coverage, will become a hub of communication for the 45,000 participants and staff and more than 250,000 visitors expected to attend.

John Alline, the jamboree's director, recently announced the plan to create a three-level wireless canopy that will cover the entire site. The first two levels will be for the medical and administration teams, but the rest of the coverage is for the participants and staff.

"If 45,000 Scouts and Scouters all press send on their phones at the same time," Alline says, "their messages will go through."

Instead of the long banks of payphones you might remember from past jamborees, the 2010 jamboree will feature AT&T kiosks at which you can recharge cell phones of any brand. Don't have a cell phone? No problem. AT&T will also have tethered phones boys and adults can use to call home for free.

Can't go 10 days without checking your e-mail? Wi-Fi hotspots will support your smartphone or laptop computer, and a computer bank will be available for adult leaders to use in 10-minute blocks of time.

Because the wireless carrier T-Mobile uses the same technology as AT&T, those phones will work on the site as well. Verizon has also announced that it will provide coverage. There's no word on Sprint just yet.


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.