English Premier League soccer side Liverpool FC is already looking toward the future following its loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League Final by announcing it has installed the latest 4G cellular network at Anfield.
The new stadium-wide network, designed and deployed by Wireless Infrastructure Group (WIG), will provide spectators with a high-speed mobile connection, which is said to offer immersive experiences at the venue such as sharing video and images on social media as well as being able to stream content to keep-up-to-date on the latest news or sporting results.
“Putting our fans first, improving their match day experience and helping them to enjoy their time at Anfield is integral to our strategy,” said Andrew Robinson, head of technology and transformation at Liverpool Football Club.
“Providing consistent mobile coverage at scale to 54,000 fans is very challenging and slow mobile data speeds can be frustrating for fans. Using expertise from WIG we’re tackling this challenge with high quality 4G services throughout the stadium to provide a much better match day experience.”
The addition of 4G follows a number of recent developments at Anfield including the expansion of its Main Stand, and phase two of the redevelopment plans include the proposal to add a further 7,000 seats to its Anfield Road End, which would bring capacity at the ground to 61,000.
The service was tested during the final games of the EPL season and will get its full roll-out when Brazil faces Croatia for an international friendly at Anfield on June 3, however it will only be available to customers on O2 and Vodafone initially. There are plans to roll the service out to other networks at a later date.
By Illya Verpraet
June 1, 2018
