SUPPORTING SFC GROUP AT TWICKENHAM – Case Study

Dominic Scott, Director at Internet Bonding Service Specialists, XCommNet, explains how the company were invited to trial their bonded internet service at the home of English Rugby, Twickenham, during last weekend’s England v Wales match, with 80,000 supporters in attendance!

‘’We were invited by SFC Group to go on site at Twickenham to conduct a trial of our equipment to see if we could cope with the typical volume of people making calls during an International sports fixture and for us to provide internet. It’s typical for our client, to not pick up any internet connectivity an hour before the match starts and at half time, simply due to the sheer volume of activity.

‘‘We arrived on site the day before to setup the trial and were told this was not going to be a test/trial but a real live problem they had. The wired internet, or fibre connection to the two concessions was broken and without internet they could not have their EPOS systems running online which was a match day essential!”

‘’We installed our kit and after testing the EPOS systems we handed over the system to SFC Group to use for the game on Saturday. ’The system performed well and we were getting a minimum speed of 60 /mbs throughout the day. One of the networks experienced a slight issue around 3pm, but with the nature of our bonding service which utilises the diversity of all networks, this did not affect us. We were therefore able to provide an uninterrupted service throughout the day for our client’’.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Challenge: To have internet for the EPOS systems using 4G, while 80000 people congregate at the stadium an hour before the match starts and at half time which typical make the mobile networks unstable.

Requirements: To be online 100% of the time

Solution: XCommNet service solution bonding multiple mobile network links.

Technology employed: 6 channel VPN 2610 bonding router equipped with 6 x 4G/3G modules + XCommNet bonding service (HUB rental), SIM’s and a 4G combiner/Amp.

One of the key benefits of the Internet Bonding Service from XCommNet, is the flexibility that the service provides. With today’s business becoming less stationary and more ‘on-the-go’ it’s crucial that business owners across the United Kingdom can have quality internet access wherever they are, to ensure the smooth operation of their business.

IT director at SFC Group, Stephen Poole commented after the game: ‘‘I was very pleased at the results especially as we did not have any down time. This has certainly got me thinking about how we can use this solution at other events to ensure there is resilience in the internet services we rely heavily on for our business.”

ABOUT SFC GROUP

www.sfcgroup.co.uk

SFC is the leading provider of events & stadium public catering for many of the UK’s most prestigious sporting and entertainment events. A second generation business founded in 1975 by Stephen Freeman senior, the company spans four divisions in order to provide a cohesive one stop ‘food to go’ catering and bars offering for the events industry.

SFC’s vast experience spans both stadium and green field events across single and multiple days and venues around the UK. SFC’s expertise is based on the knowledge of managing all types of large and small scale events for almost 40 years. . SFC have the agility to react at short notice to changes out of everyone’s control e.g. the weather and we can equally tailor the catering offering to the demographics of the event e.g. Silverstone, CLA Game Fair, Rugby venues, Wembley, Queen’s Jubilee, Live Aid, Download Festival etc.