BVB is equipping Signal Iduna Park with 5G technology

BVB is equipping Signal Iduna Park with 5G technology. Bad cell phone reception should now be a thing of the past. Here are all the details.

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Dortmund, May 27 – An entire city is looking forward to BVB’s ninth German championship. It vibrates everywhere in the city. The epicenter on this day is clearly Signal Iduna Park. Here Dortmund welcomes FSV Mainz 05. Meanwhile, title contenders Bayern Munich play in Cologne. However, BVB fans are hardly getting anything out of this. The mobile network is overloaded again. How are things in the cathedral city? Fans in the stands stared at their cell phones, in shock and disbelief. Nothing works anymore. Neither in BVB on the field nor among the fans in the stands.

BVB updates the stadium’s mobile coverage

But that should end in the new year. In line with the stadium’s 50th anniversary and just weeks before the start of the European Championships in their country, the BVB team is updating the mobile coverage at Signal Iduna Park. Since the summer, the previous WLAN technology with more than 900 antennas has been dismantled and replaced with new LTE and 5G technology.

We have been discussing the topic of 5G technology in the stadium for a long time. It is one of the field requirements at the upcoming European Championships. “This was the final impetus for us to implement the update from a technical standpoint,” says Alexander Moll, head of digital at Borussia Dortmund, in an interview with Ruhr Nachrichten. “At 1&1 we have a partner with whom we can equip Signal Iduna Park with this state-of-the-art technology – along with the goal of having one of the best network coverages ever seen in a stadium,” Moll adds.

The old WiFi network, which has been operating at BVB since 2014, no longer meets current transmission standards. 1&1 now relies on innovative Open RAN technology, where all network functions reside in a private cloud and are controlled via software. This is intended to ensure a high level of security. For the European Championships, mobile phone coverage for Dortmund football fans will be ensured by 128 mobile antennas in the open terrace areas as well as additional indoor coverage.

BVB is right on schedule

Work is already well advanced. “We are absolutely on schedule,” says Alexander Moll. The majority of the new 5G antennas have already been installed and can be seen under the roof of the stadium. More digital infrastructure is scheduled to be installed in the coming weeks. “Our goal is comprehensive network coverage in the stadium so that every visitor has the best possible reception in the stadium – even during peak loads, for example during the first half. “We are creating the right conditions for this,” emphasizes Alexander Moll. For 1&1, the expansion of the generation network is key Its 5G project is the largest in the company’s recent history. The project in Dortmund requires a lot of investment. However, when asked by RN, Moll did not reveal exactly how high it would be.

Thus, the end of poor mobile phone reception at Signal Iduna Park is in sight. At Monday’s shareholders’ meeting at Westfalenhalle 3, BVB managing director Carsten Kremer had some good news for the black and yellow fans: “We are equipping the stadium with the latest 5G standards. It will be operational by the end of April or the beginning of May at the latest.” It seems as if Dortmund supporters can keep up with what’s happening elsewhere in this latest surge of the season.