Extreme Networks, Inc., a cloud-driven networking company, announced on August 24th that it has been selected as the official Wi-Fi solutions provider for the historic Olympiastadion Berlin in Germany. Together with long-standing partner PKN Datenkommunikations GmbH (PKN), and in preparation for the 2024 European Football Championship (Euro 2024), Extreme will deploy a high-performance Wi-Fi 6 network that meets the Union of European Football Associations’ (UEFA) stringent venue and networking infrastructure requirements.
The ‘PR Newswire’ stated that Olympiastadion Berlin, part of the Berlin Olympic Park, was opened on August 1st, 1936. It is one of the largest stadiums in Germany for international football matches and one of the world’s most prestigious and versatile venues for sporting and entertainment events. This will be the first and largest public Wi-Fi 6 deployment in a European stadium, allowing the venue to meet the most demanding connectivity requirements of spectators, staff, and media attending football tournaments, concerts and international sporting events for years to come. It will also support mission-critical operations and back-of-house systems.
The ‘PR Newswire’ further stated that Extreme Networks, Inc. creates effortless networking experiences that enable everybody to advance. They push the boundaries of technology leveraging the powers of machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), analytics, and automation. Over 50,000 customers globally trust its end-to-end, cloud-driven networking solutions and rely on its top-rated services and support to accelerate their digital transformation efforts and deliver progress like never before.
The 74,475-capacity Olympiastadion Berlin is the home of Bundesliga club Hertha BSC. It has been the annual venue for the DFB Cup finals since 1985, and the DFB Cup women’s teams also played their final here up to and including 2009. In recent years, the Olympiastadion Berlin hosted the 18th FIFA World Cup™ 2006, the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics Berlin 2009, the opening game of the 6th FIFA Women’s World Cup™ 2011 and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League Final 2015.
The biggest concerts in Berlin take place every year in the Olympiastadion Berlin. Since 2018: The Lollapalooza music festival in cooperation with the Olympiapark Berlin. In 2024, the Olympiastadion Berlin will host the UEFA Euro 2024.
The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 or simply Euro 2024, will be the 17th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men’s football championship of Europe organized by the UEFA.
Since its reopening in August 2004 around 300,000 visitors annually, from all over the world, flock to the Olympiastadion Berlin on non-event days, turning the five-star stadium into one of Berlin’s top attractions. Visitors can decide whether they want to discover the area on their own or with a knowledgeable tour guide that takes them on the traces of German sports and architectural history in the Olympiastadion Berlin and the Olympiapark Berlin.
Key Benefits:
- High-Performance Wi-Fi for enhanced fan experience: With ExtremeSwitching™ and more than 1,000 ExtremeWireless™ access points deployed throughout the 74,475-seat stadium and surrounding area, Olympiastadion Berlin can ensure seamless, secure Wi-Fi connectivity and stronger connections for real-time social media sharing, video streaming and mobile app usage, including point of sale applications and mobile ticketing;
- Secure, scalable connectivity: Extreme Fabric Connect™, a powerful and flexible solution to design, build, manage, and troubleshoot networks, provides a simple, agile way for IT to deploy new services. This includes the automatic configuration of new access points and the ability to segment the network to secure the experience of business users and fans.
- ExtremeGuest™ onboarding and analytics software will provide spectators with seamless access to guest Wi-Fi services with a simple login process and built-in social media integrations.
- Simplified network management and maintenance: Extreme on-premises management software will enable Olympiastadion Berlin to manage its infrastructure via a single pane of glass across virtualized and cloud environments, providing the IT team with full visibility of the network and simplifying the process to deploy, scale and manage services, thereby delivering improved uptime.
- Real-time insights and analytics: ExtremeAnalytics™ software will deliver granular visibility into how users, devices and applications interact with the Wi-Fi network. Access to such vital visitor data will allow Olympiastadion Berlin to gain valuable usage insights and optimize network capabilities to enhance experiences for spectators and staff.
Viewpoints
Timo Rohwedder, CEO, Olympiastadion Berlin GmbH, put in, “Key requirements for state-of-the-art venues like ours are reliable, fast, and secure wireless network connectivity for tens of thousands of simultaneous users. Extreme has an outstanding pedigree when it comes to solutions and services that deliver safe, high-quality, connected in-venue experiences, and they fully meet our high expectations. With our new, high-density Wi-Fi 6 network, we can introduce new advanced technologies, such as touchless and cashless payment systems, and are set to continue welcoming some of the biggest names in sport and entertainment to our venue while offering visitors an incredible experience all around.”
Ed Meyercord, President and Chief Executive Officer, Extreme Networks, had this to say, “Our networking solutions provide the foundation for incredible fan experiences in stadiums all around the world. Olympiastadion Berlin is an iconic venue and will benefit from a state-of-the-art Wi-Fi 6 network that enriches the fan experience while being simple to manage, operate, and scale. We are honored to have been chosen as Olympiastadion Berlin’s official Wi-Fi solutions provider and are excited to help the venue elevate the digital experience at live entertainment and sporting events.”
Extreme achievements:
- Extreme has been the Official Wi-Fi Solutions Provider of the National Football League (NFL) since 2013;
- Extreme was named the only ‘Game Changer’ in the Sports Innovation Lab Power Play Index;
- Cloud Managed Networking for Dummies eBook & Wi-Fi 6 for Dummies eBook; and
- Wi-Fi Enabled Digital Ticketing for Venues Solution Brief.
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