Photo via www.umpf.co.uk
Each year, Wembley Stadium prepares for the annual return of the National Football League as it welcomes teams from across the pond to put on a competitive spectacle on foreign soil. Next year, Wembley will be adding more NFL games to its schedule, giving more teams an opportunity to play in London. However, with new-age advancements being added to Wembley Stadium the fan experience may just blow your average NFL stadium experience out of the water.
A few months ago, Wembley and EE, the largest mobile network operator in the U.K., signed a six-year technological partnership deal with aspirations of creating a high-tech stadium of the future. In just months, the partnership has announced proposed plans for becoming the “most connected [stadium] in the world.”
A commonly cited problem in NFL stadiums is the mobile data frustrations and major connectivity issues. With EE being the largest digital communications company in Britain, they’ve already established U.K.’s biggest, fastest-running, and most successful mobile network, which can be a major asset to Wembley.
How do they plan to transform Wembley into a stadium with the world’s fastest mobile data network?
It all starts with raising the level of connectivity to allow fans to download, upload, and use phone data freely. Since February 2014, EE has already doubled 3G and 4G service in the stadium, as well as added 12 new mobile antennas to bump up the data available. An impressive 99 percent of calls can now be completed in the stadium, whereas before, fans were virtually out of luck if they tried to use their smartphone.
The partnership plans to install 300Mbps LTE connectivity in Wembley Stadium as early as next year. This 4G connectivity will allow fans to download information at a quadrupled capacity, making phone calls, social media access, and text messaging seamless for fans.
EE isn’t stopping there.
They’re already planning to test an even faster 400Mbps LTE service in Wembley before 2016, however, fans will need a Cat 9 handset to access this service, which simply doesn’t even exist for consumers yet. EE plans to make the 400 Mbps service widely available to the public in Wembley Stadium by 2017, making Wembley a leading force in technological advancements.
Aside from the super connectivity speeds EE is proposing, Wembley and EE are also committed to increasing the standard capacity and bandwidth of 3G service for the majority of their customers attending games at the stadium.
Phone service and high-speed connectivity in a stadium is a high priority for fans, but Wembley Stadium has also taken measures to improve the technology in other areas of the Wembley fan experience. Wembley has made major technological advancements in mobile ticketing and contact-less payments at all concession and merchandise stands. High-tech terminals are already being installed throughout the stadium to support mobile payments, and EE and Wembley hopes by 2017, more than 50 percent of payments at contact-less in the stadium.
To top it off, EE launched a new, innovative lighting system in the staple Wembley arch, featuring the world’s fastest, interactive LED lighting system to date. It’s equipped to respond at unparalleled speeds to event noise, crowd reaction, and points scored inside Wembley. The 228 high-tech LED floodlights can create almost limitless color combinations; making any fan’s experience a technological whirlwind that truly seems like something from the future.
This technological integration being done by EE is certainly a step in the right direction for one of the world’s most historic stadiums.
When the NFL has a larger presence in Wembley next season, EE and Wembley will be ready.