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EE to provide free 4G wireless connectivity at Glastonbury Festival


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Old 23-06-2014, 12:07
David_bl1
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Does anyone know if EE will also be building out a dedicated 3G network for Glasto alongside 4G? No mention if 3G in this article:

EE to provide free 4G wireless connectivity at Glastonbury Festival - See more at: http://www.wireless-mag.com/news/298...-festival.aspx

EE, the technology partner of Glastonbury Festival (25-29 June 2014) in the UK, announced that it will install the latest 4G Wi-Fi technology at this year’s event for festival goers to use for free.

Inspired by the dairy herd at Worthy Farm, each 4G Wi-Fi 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 operator claimed.

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 (25 June), 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.
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Old 23-06-2014, 19:11
d123
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Does anyone know if EE will also be building out a dedicated 3G network for Glasto alongside 4G? No mention if 3G in this article:
EE, the technology partner of Glastonbury Festival (25-29 June 2014) in the UK, announced that it will install the latest 4G Wi-Fi technology at this year’s event for festival goers to use for free.

Inspired by the dairy herd at Worthy Farm, each 4G Wi-Fi hotspot.
I might be reading it wrong, but it's not a 4G network they are building, it's a wifi network that relies on 4G as a data gateway.

You would connect to their hotspot via wifi, and the data gateway to move that data is provided via the EE 4G network.
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Old 25-06-2014, 21:20
clivers
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You would connect to their hotspot via wifi, and the data gateway to move that data is provided via the EE 4G network.
correct. 10AM-10PM so i have seen.
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Old 25-06-2014, 22:08
DevonBloke
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Thereby allowing anyone with a smartphone or tablet to effectively use the EE 4G network.
Nice marketing!


Always amazes me though. You would have thought they would have got proper permanent 4G at Glastonbury already. They must have had mobile 4G cells there last year as the coverage was showing on the map.
I would have thought that as well as big cities and towns, tourist areas would also be high on the list.
Went to the Eden project the other day and Cornwall has no 4G except Saltash.
There is a single mast covering the project (as it's in a big quarry) but it hasn't been 4Geed... why not??
The place is ALWAYS swarming with people.
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Old 25-06-2014, 22:18
Thine Wonk
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Thereby allowing anyone with a smartphone or tablet to effectively use the EE 4G network.
Nice marketing!


Always amazes me though. You would have thought they would have got proper permanent 4G at Glastonbury already. They must have had mobile 4G cells there last year as the coverage was showing on the map.
I would have thought that as well as big cities and towns, tourist areas would also be high on the list.
Went to the Eden project the other day and Cornwall has no 4G except Saltash.
There is a single mast covering the project (as it's in a big quarry) but it hasn't been 4Geed... why not??
The place is ALWAYS swarming with people.
I doubt they are doing speedtests in the temperate dome though.
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Old 25-06-2014, 23:26
DevonBloke
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There's and outside chance you might be right!

I'll tell you how sad and anorakish I am though.....
I got 12 meg in the tropical biome.
My kids were groaning at me....
I wonder what speed I'll get in my coffin??
Hahaha

EDIT: Look!! Some fast cows.
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/6...-in-touch.html
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Old 26-06-2014, 15:29
The Lord Lucan
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Well for a start they will be using this as a stress test for doing things with 800, 1800, 2600 together..
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Old 30-06-2014, 20:10
digiwigi
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I bought an ee PAYE sim before I went it proved quite useful. Was even able to send the odd little Vine vid out near some of the main stages at times and had 4g coverage over most (but not all) the site.

Others I knew on 3g only got data at off-peak times (e.g. mornings).
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Old 30-06-2014, 20:33
moox
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Always amazes me though. You would have thought they would have got proper permanent 4G at Glastonbury already. They must have had mobile 4G cells there last year as the coverage was showing on the map.
I would have thought that as well as big cities and towns, tourist areas would also be high on the list.
Went to the Eden project the other day and Cornwall has no 4G except Saltash.
There is a single mast covering the project (as it's in a big quarry) but it hasn't been 4Geed... why not??
The place is ALWAYS swarming with people.
You've forgotten that Cornwall effectively doesn't exist to most people, and Devon barely gets attention (the world ends at Exeter of course).

I guess maybe there aren't people trying to do speedtests in the domes so there's enough capacity to spare?

(despite living less than 10 miles from Eden I haven't been there for maybe 10 years, do they have WiFi or some femtocells perhaps? I wonder if I can still get the "this is a local world-renowned tourist attraction for local people" discount)
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Old 01-07-2014, 00:06
jayteedc1
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This must have been some kind of in-joke for the network engineers who would be very used to driving COWs to big events!
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Old 01-07-2014, 00:23
DevonBloke
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You've forgotten that Cornwall effectively doesn't exist to most people, and Devon barely gets attention (the world ends at Exeter of course).

I guess maybe there aren't people trying to do speedtests in the domes so there's enough capacity to spare?

(despite living less than 10 miles from Eden I haven't been there for maybe 10 years, do they have WiFi or some femtocells perhaps? I wonder if I can still get the "this is a local world-renowned tourist attraction for local people" discount)
Of course this can be a good thing. We don't want everyone down here do we.
Yes you can. Everyone in Devon and Cornwall can get the cheap 1 or 2 year tickets.
I think I paid about £70 for me and my 3 children for 2 years. Unlimited visits!
Been there about 5 times already as they love it and it's a great day out.
Normally it would be about £63 per visit as it's something like £23 for an Adult and £13 for kids.
Saved a small fortune.

Not sure on the WiFi as I have the annoying auto-detect WiFi networks turned off on my iPhone. I'll check next time I go. Kids will want to go in the Summer some time.
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