Bristol’s Ashton Gate stadium is to trial a new high-density Wi-Fi system as part of a first-of-its-kind deal with Zeetta Networks, a spin-out company from the University of Bristol.
The stadium, home of second-tier Championship football club Bristol City and Premiership rugby union side Bristol Rugby, will be partly fitted with Zeetta Networks’ innovative new system from next month.
The system operates using software-defined, networking-enabled ‘bare metal’ technology. It will initially be fitted in the South, West and Dolman concourse areas of the stadium and, if successful, will eventually spread to the rest of the ground.
“It is notoriously difficult to enable HD Wi-Fi throughout a stadium due to the large concrete and metal structures as well as the huge numbers of users on a given matchday,” Zeetta chief executive Vassilis Seferidis said.
“We hope that this revolutionary approach will be the long-term solution to this problem. Obviously it is tremendously exciting that this is the first trial of its kind within a stadium anywhere in the world. To do it here on our doorstep makes us very proud.”
Martin Griffiths, chairman of Bristol Sport, which oversees the running of a number of the city’s teams, added: “Wi-Fi has been a problem for venues across the globe. By pushing the boundaries with this trial we can open up a whole realm of possibilities to our supporters on matchdays and business partners on non-matchdays.”
The first trial of the technology will be during Bristol City’s Championship clash with Wigan Athletic on August 6.
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