Glastonbury Festival Goers Consume 54TB Of 4G Data
Revellers at Glastonbury 2017 smash previous 4G data record as streaming, Instagram and Snapchat more than double consumption
Festival-goers at Glastonbury consumed more than 54TB of data over the weekend, more than the 40TB EE predicted and more than doubling the 25TB record set by last year’s event.
EE has been the official technology and communications partner for the past five years and earlier this year installed the first permanent mast at the Worthy Farm site. Previously it had boosted local infrastructure with additional measures.
In 2016 constructed the UK’s biggest and most powerful temporary 4G network. This involved temporary base stations and additional 2.6GHz high capacity spectrum.
EE Glastonbury
The decision to install permanent infrastructure was influenced by growing amounts of traffic generated by both video streaming and the upload of video and images to social networking platforms like Instagram and Snapchat.
The official Glastonbury mobile application was accessed more than 5.9 million times, with each user opening on an average of 33 occasions. Apple Music integration and live BBC streaming boosted the overall data figures.
The most popular live performance was The Killers’ ‘secret gig’ on the John Peel stage at 5pm on Sunday.
“Once again Glastonbury firmly cements itself as one of the biggest and most exciting music events on the planet – and people want to share their experiences when they’re there,” said Mat Sears, Director of Communications and Sponsorship at EE.
“We do everything to ensure our 4G network can handle that demand. 54 terabytes of data is an extraordinary amount, but with video applications like Facebook Live, Instagram Stories and Snapchat Stories in the palm of every festival-goer’s hand, we can only see this number increasing at each event.”
The permanent mast will also boost the long-suffering local community. Residents of Glastonbury will have year-long 4G coverage as EE seeks to achieve 92 percent geographical coverage by the end of the year and 95 percent by 2020.
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