Interview with Robert Peter, CEO of WiFi Rockstars, who specialize in WiFi for large events.
Why WiFi at festivals? When a large crowd comes together at a festival and shares their experience over the mobile network, it is often overloaded. We have seen this phenomenon more frequently at events. The industry has recognised the problem, but not everyone is reacting. Smartphones as mobile all-rounders open up a new dimension that enables interaction between the event, the location and the audience. Event organisers are faced with the challenge of presenting themselves as an omnipresent world of experience. There is therefore no getting around temporary WiFi hotspots.
STAGEREPORT: What can WiFi Rockstars do and what is the company’s focus?
Robert Peter: WIFI ROCKSTARS is one of the leading service providers for temporary WiFi hotspots for events in Germany. We have the technical know-how and infrastructure to implement flexible, temporary WiFi solutions of any size.
STAGEREPORT: In which situations is the company booked or when is the company used?
Robert Peter: Marketing managers from companies such as BMW, Sony, Becks and Red Bull try to identify the changing drivers for a festival visit and constantly optimise strategies to appeal to their target group, to emotionalise them and to achieve the set goals. Above all, a high-quality live event is defined by the atmosphere.
From our point of view, all parties are therefore striving to create an infrastructure that has a high level of service, aesthetics and quality. Satisfying customer needs is our top priority. This is why we act holistically with a focus on the customer. Our WiFi is therefore the infrastructure for companies' marketing activities such as promotions, free live streams or simple connectivity to the Internet. We see ourselves as part of the service value chain, where we try to achieve our customer's goals.
STAGE REPORT: What areas are usually networked?
Robert Peter: As a rule, we are very flexible here. In general, you can say that everything is possible, although of course it is regulated by the price.
Many kilometers of cables were laid for the Rock im Revier rock festival, which lasted several days.
STAGEREPORT: Example Rock im Revier 2015 – what did the performance portfolio look like?
Robert Peter: A completely temporary, very powerful WIFI network including infrastructure for various areas (festival office, production, pass office, etc.) around the arena was installed. At such a monumental festival, special attention is paid to security surveillance. Sophisticated, high-quality camera technology was used in the WLAN. The cameras were connected via Wi-Fi in order to bundle all images on a computer or send them to an external monitoring center. In addition, we used fiber optics over long distances and made the installation completely weatherproof.
Stable WiFi was also booked backstage for the artists and management. To ensure a stay fit for world stars, the dressing rooms of FC Schalke 04 and their guest cabins for the backstage and VIP areas were converted and adapted accordingly. We are a little proud that top international acts such as Metallica, Muse, KISS, Faith No More and Limp Bizkit used "our" WiFi.
STAGE REPORT: What technology is used (what kind of arrays are used) and what can it achieve.
Robert Peter: We want to offer our customers maxime performance. That's why we only use high-performance WIFI arrays from the enterprise environment. This includes the best possible coverage, unbeatable reliability, and sufficient bandwidth even with a large number of simultaneous end devices.
STAGE REPORT: Are there any technical limitations?
Robert Peter: We are highly specialized and able to flexibly network almost any customer location. It doesn't matter whether customers are holding an event at a lake, in industrial halls or on a meadow in the countryside. The limiting factor is the internet connection, but even in places where there is no internet connection, we can provide a solution.
STAGE REPORT: Does cabling effort play a role in the installation work for projects like Rock im Revier?
Robert Peter: 100% yes! For Rock im Revier, several kilometers of cable were laid in and around the Veltins Arena.
STAGE REPORT: Let’s stay with Rock im Revier – how much lead time does WiFi Rockstars need to plan and set up such a temporary infrastructure?
Robert Peter: The more lead time the better. From inquiry to implementation it took exactly ten days, which is quite an achievement considering the scale.
STAGEREPORT: What about services such as permanent support for WiFi installation for music festivals?
Robert Peter: Fast action and consistent support are important, as the respective management usually has various special requests that need to be implemented at short notice. This even included remodeling work just before the performance.
STAGEREPORT: Where does the company operate (regionally, Germany, Europe)?
Robert Peter: We operate throughout Europe. Our core regions are Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
A wireless network for the entire backstage area including artists was implemented.
