Westpac Stadium, Spark and Huawei are combining to deliver state of the art 20Gb/second high density WiFi to take Phoenix supporters’ matchday experience to the #NixLevel.
With Spark coming on board as Westpac Stadium’s official technology partner the Wellington Phoenix’s home stadium has announced a facility-wide technology upgrade which will deliver unprecedented free WiFi access for all fans attending matches or concerts inside the stadium.
The high density WiFi will be rolled out by Spark in collaboration with Wellington Phoenix’s principal partner Huawei, who have successfully delivered similar upgrades for Borussia Dortmund in Germany and for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
The entire seating area will be covered by 350 directional antennas, allowing around 20,000 people to connect to the WiFi concurrently, supported by a 20 Gb/second fibre backbone running around the stadium.
24km of new cabling will be laid, along with the installation of around 300 access points, with the rollout expected to be completed in July.
Spark’s GM Enterprise Commercial & Trans-Tasman Vanessa Sorenson was excited to announce the project: “We’ve seen connected technologies used in amazing ways to enhance stadium experiences overseas, so we’re thrilled now to be involved in bringing this to Wellington.”
For Stadium Chief Executive Shane Harmon the WiFi is just part of a wider stadium revamp, redesigning not only the spaces fans enter but also the broader experiences they have before, during and after attending an event.
“Connectivity is important for fans and their phone is part of any game day experience, whether sharing a moment via social media or looking up information related to the event, and this project will take that to a whole new level”.
“We’re particularly pleased to be able to work with the Wellington Phoenix’s principal partner Huawei on this project, as it will mean greater collaboration between the stadium and the Phoenix in the match day experience”.
For Huawei’s Director of Public Affairs Andrew Bowater the stadium WiFi is just another way the technology giants are supporting the Wellington Phoenix.
“Huawei’s partnership with the Phoenix led to talks with Westpac Stadium around how we could help deliver a better fan experience through our technology.
This project is fully powered by Huawei technology, and we are proud to not only be backing the Phoenix on the field, but also providing a technology platform that enables the fans to share their love of the game too.”
