MEDIA RELEASE - One of Auckland’s largest public events is once again set to attract huge crowds to the Auckland Domain to celebrate Chinese New Year.

With over 800 colourful lanterns on display, lantern-gazers will have plenty to snap, Instagram and post, putting Vodafone’s network to the test.

To ensure seamless uploads, as well as maintaining optimal network performance for nearby Domain residents, Vodafone has wheeled in a special structure of its own.

A Cell site On Wheels, or COW, is a temporary cell site used to boost network capacity to cope with the extreme influx of customers at large scale events, such as the popular Lantern Festival.

The 2016 event attracted more than 200,000 visitors over the four days, who used more than 380GB of data, and made over 105,000 phone calls over last year’s COW.

Vodafone Technology Director, Tony Baird says the 2017 festival will continue to see data use explode as more people share their festival experiences online.

“Smartphones are at the heart of Kiwis staying in touch these days, and while texting and calling are still popular, we’re using data services more and more.

Services like Snapchat, Facebook and WhatsApp are increasingly popular and require a significant boost
to network capacity to ensure customers can keep sharing pictures, posting updates, and live streaming
– that’s where our COWs come in”.

Larger than a standard dairy cow, the Cell site On Wheels’ mast measures up to 12 metres in height ensuring clear, consistent mobile coverage over the Domain, and takes three technicians to deploy.

#LanternAKL.