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Festivals, Phones & 5G: How Telecoms Keep the Music Playing

  • Writer: Tina Rosén
    Tina Rosén
  • Jun 9
  • 3 min read

The Summer Surge: A Challenge for Mobile Networks


Music Festival crowd

As festival season in Europe gets underway, the role of telecoms in delivering a great experience has never been more critical. While many of the core rules for enjoying the music and events haven’t changed, the role of telecoms certainly has in an age where everyone wants to share their experience online and use their phone to find their friends, decide what to do next and pay for their drinks.



Meet the COWs: Vodafone’s secret 5G festival weapon

Vodafone’s COWs – or Cells on Wheels – can be found at music festivals and agricultural shows across the UK, delivering a great experience to its customers despite the extra demand placed on its network.


“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.  

A packed festival calendar

Vodafone notes that the season really kicks off with the four-day Cheltenham Race Festival (11-14 March). After Cheltenham ends, the COWs go on tour supporting other race meetings (The Grand National, The Derby Festival and Royal Ascot), sporting events (the London Marathon, Wimbledon, PGA Golf Championship and Goodwood Festival of Speed), family day outs (the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, Royal International Air Tattoo and the National Eisteddfod of Wales), agricultural shows (Devon, New Forest & Hampshire, and the Royal Berkshire shows) and music festivals (BST Hyde Park, Boardmasters, Glastonbury Festival, Isle of Wight Festival, Kendal Calling, and Reading Festival).


Glastonbury 2024 Festival in numbers – 225 TB of data and a lot of selfies

Typically, Vodafone deploys one or more COWs – depending on the terrain, event area and the estimated number of attendees. But with data usage by Glastonbury 2024’s 200,000+ attendees up 33% compared to the previous year, and reaching an eye-watering 225Tb, it takes 10 COWs to keep the festival rocking and rolling.

Vodafone, which is the official connectivity partner at Glastonbury, shared some eye-watering insights into how this 225Tb of data was being used that reveal how dependent festival goers have become on reliable mobile connectivity.

Here’s how that data broke down:


  • 258 GB of data was used during Coldplay’s headline performance – the equivalent of 74,000 high resolution Instagram uploads

  • 20 TB of data was used at the Pyramid Stage alone.

  • +59,000 customers created custom pins, 173,700 pins were dropped, and 15,000 were shared with friends and family to help people meet up on the vast site.

  • 226,215 downloads of the official Glastonbury app (nearly 90% onsite)

  • 23,000 people linked their Spotify accounts for tailored artist recommendations



More than just 5G coverage – marketing & monetization onsite

While Vodafone uses festivals as a way of showcasing its 5G capabilities, it also presents sales and marketing opportunities for the company. Almost 10,000 people bought power banks from its Connect & Charge tent on-site, and 15,000 people ordered a Vodafone eSIM to participate in its free eSIM network trial.

  • Nearly 10,000 power banks sold at the Connect & Charge tent

  • 15,000 eSIMs activated to join Vodafone’s free network trial



Couple taking selfie at a music concert

Real-time monitoring makes the magic happen

Bringing the network to the people is only half the battle. Delivering a consistent, high-quality experience also means rapid detection and resolution of issues, as well as real-time adjustment of mobile coverage to meet shifting crowd behavior and demand.


Optimize every Festival Crowd – Discover Subtonomy CROWDS

Want to know how you can deliver festival-grade connectivity at every high-traffic event? Subtonomy's CROWDS solution helps telecoms analyze service performance during large events in real time – identifying issues as they emerge, understanding user experience on a granular level, and helping operators dynamically tune the network to maintain a stellar experience.


From music festivals to sporting events and cultural shows, CROWDS is your backstage pass to operational excellence.


  • Used by leading European CSPs

  • Ideal for temporary high-load environments

  • Highly Commanded at the World Communication Awards 2023




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