W hether it be in-seat ordering , till-less food and beverage outlets , mobile ticketing , NFTs , cashless payments or digital site maps , smartphones have become the indispensable tool at the heart of the event experience .
With that in mind , it is hardly surprising that major outdoor events offer charging points for phones , and venues are increasingly providing atseat power options , but most important of all is having robust connectivity and networking systems behind the scenes that can support the burgeoning digital activities .
Among the companies providing such a service to major events and venues is PMY and its sister company , Etherlive .
“ Tom [ McInerney ] and I started Etherlive 14 years ago when there was really not much going on in the world of technology at events ,” says PMY executive general manager Chris Green .
“ The aim was to bring the quality of IT services that were available in the business world into the events industry , knowing that it was going to become more critical for the delivery of events .”
Networking opportunities PMY works with customers , including The Open Championship and Principality Stadium . It develops , implements , manages , deploys and commercialises digital technology and data projects at the events . Meanwhile , Etherlive specialises in providing internet connectivity , wired and wireless networking , Voiceover Internet Protocol ( VoIP ), streaming , CCTV , people counting and consultancy services . Its clients include RHS Chelsea and AEG Presents ’ BST Hyde Park .
“ We started delivering that core connectivity , networking , WiFi and wired connections into the events world and , from there , our offering grew to encompass everything at an event that needs that service ; from CCTV systems , contactless payment systems , ticketing and access systems – anything that requires a network we have become more involved with ,” says Green .
At BST Hyde Park , Etherlive creates a highly complex fibre ring infrastructure that provides a robust network to support the cashless payment systems , CCTV , sponsor activations , broadcast streams and the media village .
Green says a key development is that whereas event environments of the past would primarily require internet access for downloading content , far more content is now being uploaded : “ Now as much goes up as comes down , and that ’ s really changed the connectivity requirements on site because there ’ s so much synchronisation and uploading of documents , photos and videos , not just from the audience but from the production teams as well .”
On average , each year the company sees a 20 % rise in internet bandwidth requirements from clients , driven by factors such as enhanced security provisions , live streaming and cashless payments .
McInerney says , “ The rise in requirements for cashless solutions is driven by the lingering impact of the pandemic , and younger age groups who don ’ t expect to bring cards with them to an event . They certainly don ’ t expect to pay in cash .”
Taking notes Intelligent Venue Solutions ( IVS ) director Paul Pike has been engaged in the evolving world of cashless payment systems for many years . This year
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