London,
20
June
2016
|
08:00
Europe/London

EE brings 4G WiFi to Glastonbury with its alternative 'hedgeliners'

  • EE is giving free 4G WiFi to festival-goers using topiary structures inspired by the most popular landmarks of Glastonbury Festival
  • As revealed by social media, the iconicPyramid Stage, the spectacular Arcadia spiderand the colourful Park Tower were the most shared landmarks at Glastonbury Festival last year
  • The unique hotspots will offer free WiFi to festival-goers using cutting (h)edge technology powered by EE’s superfast 4G network to keep everyone connected

Monday 20th June 2016: EE, the official technology and communications partner of Glastonbury Festival, has not only grown its 4G network on site for 2016, it has also grown a series of unique large-scale topiary structures that provide free 4G WiFi thanks to cutting (h)edge technology hidden within.

Glastonbury’s alternative ‘4GEE hedgeliners’ are shaped as The Pyramid StageThe Park Tower and theArcadia Spider – social media’s most shared iconic landmarks from last year’s event. The unique 4G WiFi hotspots are created by the green fingers of horticultural artists Agrumi.

The installations have been designed to fit in with the huge variety of Instagram-inspiring creative sculptures and elaborate sets which can be seen at Worthy Farm over the festival, and incorporate the latest 4G WiFi technology from EE. Sculpted with moss and hand-decorated with individually applied silk flowers, ribbons and LEDs, the 4G WiFi hotspots will allow users to log on and upload festival memories in superfast time, and nod to Glastonbury’s artistic heritage and stunning Somerset location.

Spencer McHugh, Director of Brand at EE, said: “Glastonbury is the UK’s biggest and best-loved festival – there really is nowhere like it when it comes to creativity, artistic flair and sheer splendour on site and we know people want to document and share every special moment on social media. We are already tripling the capacity of our 4G network on site to keep up with the ever-increasing demand for data we see at big events, and the addition of these selfie-friendly hotspots, showcasing our latest 4G WiFi technology, will give everyone on site a chance to share their pictures and videos seamlessly.”

The 4G WiFi technology incorporated within the topiary structures is new for 2016 and cutting edge when it comes to delivering public WiFi over the superfast network from EE. Using the ruggedised Cradlepoint Advanced Edge Routing (AER) Series – which is designed for easy set up in remote locations, especially where wired connectivity is not available – multiple users can login to the hotspots at the same time and enjoy superfast 4G speeds and instant uploading.

The 4G WiFi hotspots from EE are available to all from 10am until 10pm Thursday to Sunday and will be placed at popular locations around the site to allow revellers on any mobile network to simply log-on with the password provided.

Free 4G WiFi for festival-goers forms part of the wider technology offering from EE on site which includes developing the official Glastonbury 2016 app - available for free to Android and iOS users now - a triple-capacity 4G network and phone charging either in the EE Recharge tent or with the new Juice Tube Power Bank swapping service. Whether uploading selfies to Instagram, sharing memorable moments via Snapchat, checking in on Facebook, or joining the conversation on Twitter, EE customers will be able to share their experiences in superfast time and spend more time embracing all Glastonbury has to offer.

For more information on the partnership between EE and Glastonbury Festival, please visitee.co.uk/Glastonbury.

ENDS-

For further information, please contact:

Georgia Sharp I georgia.sharp@mcsaatchi.com / Demi Mantell I demi.mantell@mcsaatchi.com 

*EE used social media analytics tool Crimson Hexagon, to search for all Twitter conversation relating to Glastonbury 2015 during the period the festival was open to the public (Tuesday 23d – Monday 29th June, 2015)

Top ten most shared landmarks of last year’s festival –

  • Pyramid Stage
  • Arcadia
  • The Park
  • John Peel Stage
  • West Holts
  • Shangri-La
  • William’s Green
  • Silver Hayes
  • Acoustic Field
  • Field of Avalon

The technology behind the network:

EE has invested in building a 4G network capable of supporting the amazing appetite for data at Glastonbury Festival:

  • Adding a sixth temporary mobile antenna unit to the network to improve coverage and increase capacity
  • Identifying optimum locations for all six mobile sites to deliver 4G coverage to all areas of the festival
  • Reviewing congestion graphs from 2015 to optimise capacity for the 2016 event
  • Tripling the 4G spectrum capacity, adding 35MHz of 2600MHz spectrum to the existing 20MHz of 1800MHz spectrum
  • Implementing 4G Calling (VoLTE) to allow phone calls to be carried over the 4G network
  • Implementing state-of-the-art six sector antenna technology to optimise capacity
  • Deploying the full EE portfolio of 2G and 3G spectrum
  • Increasing backhaul capacity to provide an optimum data experience

About EE

EE, part of BT Group, is the largest and most advanced mobile communications company in Britain, delivering mobile and fixed communications services to consumers.

EE runs the UK's biggest and fastest mobile network, having pioneered the UK's first superfast 4G mobile service in October 2012 and is the first European operator to surpass 15 million 4G customers. EE's 4G coverage today reaches more than 96% of the UK population, equal to more than 60% of the UK geography. EE plans to extend 4G to 95% geographic coverage by 2020, further than any UK network has ever taken mobile coverage.

In the last few years, EE has received extensive independent recognition, including being ranked the UK's best overall network by RootMetrics®; Best Network at the 2014 and 2015 Mobile News Awards; Best Consumer Network at the 2014 & 2015 Mobile Industry Awards; Best Network at the 2014 & 2015 Mobile Choice Consumer Awards, and Best Network at the What Mobile Awards 2014; Fastest Network at the 2014 and 2016 uSwitch Mobile Awards; Best Mobile Network at the 2014 Recombu Awards, and Winners of Best Connected Gadget at the Mobile Choice Consumer Awards 2015.

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Twitter at: twitter.com/ee

YouTube at: youtube.com/ee

LinkedIn at: linkedin.com/company/ee-uk