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I'm trying to find out how many simultaneous connected devices can handle a typical LTE 4G or 3G public cell site.

I know my question sounds broad, but i'am developping an mobile application which is used during a concert, and can be used by hundred to thousand of people in the same place. The application hold a web socket connection to the server, which allows devices to receive descending messages. Messages are short (less than 1,000 octets) and only sent every 2 minutes (but sent to every devices at the same time). I've already successfully tested it with 500 devices. But I need to know what is the hypothetical limit.

Is it 1,000 devices, 10,000 devices? And where can I found elements of responses?

I was not able to find any article or website talking about this limit. Is there a limit? Or connection bandwith is always shared between the connected devices without any limit?

Thank you

Edit: I am aware that in dense area, network operators "simply" reduce cell radius and deploy more base station, but the number of cells in an area is usually chosen for a "normal usage": Something like : "One people take its phone, look something for several seconds, and then close it and put it back in his pocket for 10 min". So that way, even if it's a very large crowd, the usage is not very high. But my scenario is different : I will ask to a crowd of 3000 people to use their phone at the same time.

Will the cell site will be able to handle it? Or will it be a massive failure because half of user will have no connection? This is what i am trying to answer. (Note that the web server will be powerful enough)

Matthieu Charbonnier
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  • there's no reason a concert hall, a stadium or a mosque would only covered by a single cell; when the network gets to dense, network operators "simply" reduce cell radius and deploy more base station. – Marcus Müller Mar 19 '20 at 20:15
  • @MarcusMüller You're right, but the question is still applicable for 2 or 3 cells. – Matthieu Charbonnier Mar 19 '20 at 20:26
  • well, the point is that I'm not really sure what you're asking – an operator will always try to install enough infrastructure to serve the crowd, if they want to serve it. Basically, sure, there's physical limits, but femtocells are a thing and we can expect LTE to adapt to **very** large crowds. What is the actual problem you're expecting to have? – Marcus Müller Mar 19 '20 at 20:32
  • The number of cells in an area is usually chosen for a "normal usage": Something like : "One people take its phone, look something for several seconds, and then close it and put it back in his pocket for 10 min". So that way, even if it's a very large crowd, the usage is not very high. But my case is different : I will ask to a crowd of 3000 people to use their phone at the same time. Will the cell site will be able to handle it? Or will it be a massive failure because half of user will have no connection? (the server will be powerful enough) – Matthieu Charbonnier Mar 19 '20 at 20:48

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