Special events across the country, from music festivals to agricultural shows, will be receiving improved mobile coverage during 2025 from Vodafone's herd of COWs.
Spring is glimmering on the horizon, so Vodafone is starting to ramp up the deployment of its temporary mobile phone masts.
These Cells on Wheels – or COWs for short – can be found at some of the biggest UK special events. Once in place, they help deliver an outstanding network experience by managing the extra demand expected on the network during these busy occasions.
While the rollout of COWs doesn’t really stop throughout the year, things start to get particularly busy around spring. The first main event of the season will take place between 11-14 March, as COWs attend the Cheltenham Race Festival.
Moo-sic festivals 2023: how COWs made a summer of strong signal
Ensuring special events, from Glastonbury to the Henley Regatta, get mobile signal requires a fleet of special equipment, planning ahead by a year and eagle-eyed monitoring.
Here, they will support the thousands of Vodafone customers among the racegoers at the four-day horse-racing meeting. Once Cheltenham ends, the COWs will then start their big tour of the UK. Between now and the end of the season, the units will have visited:
- Some of the other large horse racing meetings of the season, such as The Derby Festival, The Grand National and Royal Ascot.
- Sporting events, from the London Marathon and Wimbledon to PGA Golf Championship and Goodwood Festival of Speed.
- Culture festivals and family days out, including Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, Royal International Air Tattoo and the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
- Some of the largest agriculture shows in the UK, such as the Devon, New Forest & Hampshire, and the Royal Berkshire shows.
- The biggest music festivals across the nation, including BST Hyde Park, Boardmasters, Glastonbury Festival, Isle of Wight Festival, Kendal Calling, and Reading Festival.
In total there will be nearly 130 deployments, with events receiving one or more units depending on terrain, event area and the estimated number of attendees.
The COWs have also been receiving some upgrades to ensure they are prepared for the busy season ahead – and they are very much needed. At Glastonbury 2024, where Vodafone was Official Connectivity Partner, festivalgoers used a record-breaking 225 TB of data. That’s an increase in data usage of more than 33%, compared to what was used at the festival in 2023.
Here to a-moo-se: Vodafone COWs coming to 2024 special events
Vodafone gears up to make 2024 another great year for mobile signal coverage at special events across the country.
“The special events season is the highlight of many people’s year. To keep up with customer demand, we have a dedicated special events team that manages the rollout of our COW fleet, with planning starting months in advance,” said Andrea Donà, Chief Network Officer, Vodafone UK.
“The COWs have recently received a full upgrade, so there’s no reason why customers should miss out on a moment – whether it’s live streaming to their friends or posting pictures on their social media channels. As The Nation’s Network, the team continue to put in that extra mile to ensure our customers have the best coverage we can deliver across the summer and beyond.”
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