Glastonbury-goers to get free 4G wifi from EE’s innovative ‘highspeed herd’: It’s udderly fast!
- Festival-partner EE to bring superfast 4G WiFi to this year’s Glastonbury Festival in the form of life-size cows
- Fibreglass ‘Highspeed Herd’ statues are modelled on Worthy Farm’s famous dairy cows and painted by legendary Glastonbury bin artist Hank and his team
- ‘Moobile’ WiFi hotspots will allow revellers to log on and upload pictures and videos in record time thanks to EE’s bespoke 4G network on site
Monday 23rd June, 2014: EE, the technology partner of Glastonbury Festival 2014, announced that it will install the latest 4G WiFi technology at this year’s event for festival goers to use for free. Inspired by the award-winning dairy herd at Worthy Farm, each 4G WiFi hotspot takes the form of a festival-themed life-size cow and will allow users to log on and upload festival memories in superfast time.
The fibre-glass cow statues have been decorated by one of the Festival’s legendary artists, Hank, and from the moment the gates open this Wednesday, festival goers will be able to get superfast internet ‘on the hoof’ thanks to EE’s Highspeed Herd. The 4GEE cows will be placed at key points around the site to allow revellers on any mobile network to simply log-on using any device, ensuring no magical festival moment will go ‘unshared’ or ‘unliked’.
In keeping with the ethos of Glastonbury, the 4GEE Highspeed Herd design has been enhanced by Hank and his team, who have been decorating the iconic steel drum bins around the Festival grounds in their unique style since the 1980s. They have achieved global recognition thanks to their long-standing service, and one of their painted bins currently resides in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland, Ohio in the United States.
EE will install a bespoke 4G network on site for the Festival weekend, which will power the cows, continuing to bring the superfast broadband experience to the most rural parts of the UK. EE’s 4G network now covers 215 large towns and cities, and an additional 2,588 rural villages and small towns.
Spencer McHugh, Director of Brand at EE, said: “Staying connected has become an essential part of any festival-goers experience and we are thrilled to be back supporting Glastonbury Festival, helping to ensure those on site have the best possible experience. Worthy Farm’s famous dairy herd are award-winning, much like our superfast 4G network, and we wanted to have some fun this year while providing a much-needed service.”
Hank, Glastonbury’s legendary on site artist, said: “It’s not the first cow I’ve ever painted but it’s certainly the most high-tech. We’ve loved bringing these 4G beasts to life and I think they look brilliant. My team and I have even named them: Dolly, Daisy and Molly seemed the perfect fit to me.”
The 4GEE Highspeed Herd is available to all from 10am until 10pm Thursday to Sunday.
Other tech innovations EE is bringing to this year’s festival include widespread contactless payment on site, with over 100 card readers in 25 main bars, as well as Cash on Tap facilities for EE customers with compatible phones, allowing users to pay for items up to £20 with a mobile phone.
The official Glastonbury 2014 app, created by EE, shows all the latest news, set times, lives streams of the BBC’s coverage over the weekend and features improved social media integration this year, helping friends connect on site. It is available to download now for all smartphone users on any mobile network.
For more information on EE’s partnership with the Glastonbury Festival, please visit ee.co.uk/Glastonbury.
- ENDS -
For more information, please contact the EE Glastonbury Press Office:
M&C Saatchi PR / eeglasto@mcsaatchi.com / 0207 544 3600
About EE
EE is the largest and most advanced digital communications company in Britain, delivering mobile and fixed communications services to consumers, businesses, government and the wholesale market. With approximately 15,000 employees and 600 retail stores, EE serves more than 27 million customers on EE, Orange and T-Mobile mobile and broadband plans.
EE runs the UK's biggest and fastest mobile network, having introduced the UK's first superfast 4G mobile service in 2012. EE's 4G coverage reaches over 70% of the UK population. EE’s 2G coverage reaches 99% of the population while 3G reaches 98%. EE's superfast fibre broadband service covers 54% of the UK population, and ADSL broadband service covers 98.7% of the population.
EE has received extensive independent recognition including being ranked the UK's best overall network by RootMetrics®, Fastest Network at the 2013 uSwitch Awards, Best Network at the 2013 Mobile Choice Consumer Awards and What Mobile Awards, Network Innovation at the 2013 Recombu awards and Best Network for Business at the 2013 Mobile Industry awards.
Cash on Tap
Cash on Tap is issued by PrePay Technologies Limited pursuant to license by MasterCard® International Incorporated. Cash on Tap is an electronic money product. PrePay Technologies Limited is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for the issuance of electronic money (FRN 900010). MasterCard and the MasterCard Brand Mark are registered trademarks and PayPass and Tap & Go™ are trademarks of MasterCard International Incorporated.
Follow us on…
Facebook at: www.facebook.com/ee
Twitter at: www.twitter.com/ee
YouTube at: www.youtube.com/ee
LinkedIn at: www.linkedin.com/company/ee-uk