EE brings 5G SA to Wembley Stadium
February 10, 2025
Wembley Stadium now has its own dedicated 5G standalone mobile network after EE completed major upgrades at the spiritual ‘home of football’.
Football fans attending England Women’s UEFA Nations League match against reigning world champions Spain on February 26th will be the first people in the UK to experience Wembley’s enhanced in-stadium connectivity, as the 5G standalone network is used for a live public event for the first time.
“The Lionesses have made history with their ground-breaking performances on the pitch, and now we’ve made history off it with the launch of the first 5G standalone network at Wembley Stadium,” said Marc Allera, CEO at EE. “Whether it’s the Emirates FA Cup Final or one of the hotly anticipated gigs this summer, our cutting-edge mobile connectivity will ensure fans can capture, share and experience history in new ways under the iconic Wembley arch in 2025.”
The deployment of 5G standalone is part of EE’s continued refinement of its network experience at the UK’s biggest stadium, having recently resigned a multi-year partnership with Wembley. Unlike previous 5G technologies which relied on using 4G infrastructure, 5G standalone – as the name suggests – operates entirely separately, unleashing increased capacity and performance so fans can benefit from more reliable mobile internet, faster loading speeds, and improved video calls – even in busy areas and during major events.
The technology also has the potential to be used to support Wembley Stadium’s wider event operations, including retail point-of-sale and television broadcasting – as well as future fan experiences.
Having launched its 5G standalone network in September 2024, EE’s most advanced network technology is currently available to more than 21 million people – a third of the UK population.
Paolo Pescatore, Analyst at PP Foresight, added: “Mobile connectivity is now an essential part of the fan experience at major events as more people want to capture, share and livestream the biggest moments. 5G standalone is the most advanced mobile network technology and best placed to meet the demands of 90,000 people in a sold-out stadium who all want to use their smartphones at the same time. It’s fantastic to see Wembley Stadium and EE leading the charge and with so many huge sport, music and other events coming up in 2025, this could be a real game changer.”
The FA recently extended its deal with EE as the lead partner of all England football teams and Wembley Stadium.
Other posts by :
- SES announces €0.25c dividend
- Russia “blinding and destroying” German satellites
- Bank: AST, Starlink, Kuiper targeting $200bn market
- Rivada: Is no news good news?
- SES celebrates Intelsat acquisition
- Pakistan halts broadband direct-from satellite
- India stymies Starlink launch
- Starlink, AST SpaceMobile race for cellular consumers
- Trouble ahoy for foreign D2D satellites over India?