Case Study - Westfield Shopping Center
SOLiD in Partnership with Wireless Infrastructure Group (WIG)
SOLiD, in partnership with Wireless Infrastructure Group (WIG), is proud to announce the deployment of improved mobile connectivity at two of the largest shopping centres in Europe.
New, neutral host distributed networks have been deployed by WIG at both Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City, enabling retailers and shoppers to take advantage of transformational 4G services at these landmark retail centres.
With a combined floorplate of more than 4.5m square feet hosting over 600 stores, restaurants and drinks outlets, the Westfield centres in London attract over 100 million annual visitors. This creates some unique challenges when it comes to ensuring fast and reliable mobile services.
Shopping centres cover an enormous amount of floor space and extend to multiple floors. Mobile usage can be variable with peaks occurring at different times of the day and week and often in different areas, so any solution needs to account for this and still achieve a seamless mobile experience.
WIG’s experienced team guided this project from design and construction through to engaging and onboarding all the UK mobile operators. SOLiD was an invaluable partner in delivering the flexible and scalable infrastructure for the Westfield Shopping Centre sites.”
- Craig Birchenough - Indoor Networks COO - WIG
SOLiD worked in close collaboration with WIG to provide the active components of the distributed networks in both the Westfield centres. WIG designed the networks using SOLiD’s high-power radio (HRNs) to distribute multi-operator mobile services throughout both locations. The majority of the design, installation and commissioning was completed during COVID which added an additional layer of complexity. WIG’s state of the art networks will provide a seamless path to 5G and support all mobile operators, their technologies and frequencies.
“ These Westfield shopping centres are amongst the biggest and busiest in Europe. We are very proud to be chosen by WIG as the active equipment vendor for this project. Capacity and throughput speeds are critical to a high quality mobile experience and improving customer experience and safety. We are pleased to have played an integral role in these projects .”
- Steven Galagher, VP Sales EMEA, SOLiD
The improved coverage and capacity delivered through WIG’s networks will ensure that staff, and tenants at Westfield London and Stratford benefit from improved connectivity and download speeds on their mobile devices. It will also facilitate the prompt completion of payments and allow retailers to be able to take advantage of the new improvements in electronic point of sale solutions as well as digital marketing campaigns.
