GLASTONBURY festival goers will find it easier to connect with the outside world after operator EE announced it is installing the UK's most powerful temporary 4G network on the Somerset site - tripling network availability.

The firm says the event, which runs from June 22 to 26 at Worthy Farm, Pilton, will be the most connected green-field music festival in the world.

The amount of data consumed by festival goers has been rapidly increasing since the launch of 4G, and this year EE predicts that with 135,000 revellers on site, EE customers will use a colossal 15 terabytes of data via its 4G network over the course of the five days.

The data is equivalent to:

  • Uploading 63 million Pyramid stage selfies
  • Downloading Adele’s hit single Hello three million times
  • Streaming artist performances on BBC iPlayer continually for six years
  • 20 times as much mobile data as festival-goers used in 2011, the last time Coldplay headlined the festival

Festival-goers will use EE’s 4G network to share twice as much content in five days as people across the whole of Bristol – the South West’s largest city.

Spencer McHugh, Director of Brand at EE, said: “People in the UK are using their mobiles more than ever before to share cherished experiences.

"2016 has already seen 4G data usage increase by at least 40 per cent at other major events year on year and this trend shows no sign of slowing down.

"Each year social media feeds all over the world are flooded with images and videos of Glastonbury Festival so, in anticipation of the huge demand we expect to see at Worthy Farm this June, we’ve tripled our 4G capacity thanks to a number of new innovative network technologies.”

Planning for the temporary 4G network at Glastonbury starts nine months prior to the festival and installation of the high capacity mobile base stations commences four weeks before, the firm said.


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To cope with the data demand, EE has added a sixth mobile site this year, and tripled the amount of mobile airwaves for customers to use.

The official Glastonbury 2016 app, developed in partnership with EE, will be available to download in early June, allowing festival-goers to get up-to-the-minute news on the weekend’s entertainment and live stream the BBC’s coverage.

Customers who download the app can drop location pins over the weekend to ensure they don’t lose their friends, tent or car at Worthy Farm. 

More information on charging at the festival will be announced in the coming weeks.

For more information log on to EE.co.uk/Glastonbury.

Somerset County Gazette: