Telecom Partners: Building, Branding, and Benchmarking Festival Connectivity

Why Connectivity Sponsorship Matters

In today’s festival landscape, reliable connectivity has become as essential as water and restrooms. Modern attendees arrive with smartphones in hand, expecting to share videos, find friends, use cashless payments, and access schedules in real time. In fact, 62% of festivalgoers say their mobile phone improves their festival experience, and nearly 60% spend at least three hours a day on their phones during events (www.advanced-television.com). This means a festival with poor signal or Wi-Fi can quickly lead to frustrated guests. On the flip side, strong connectivity keeps fans happy and engaged longer – they’re busy uploading Instagram posts instead of worrying about a signal.

For festival producers, this trend presents a valuable sponsorship opportunity. Partnering with a telecom company (mobile carriers or internet providers) can offload the high cost of network infrastructure while enhancing the guest experience. The idea is simple: let a telecom sponsor handle the cell towers and Wi-Fi in exchange for branding and marketing rights. Many large events already do this – festivals from Glastonbury (UK) to Austin City Limits (USA) have official connectivity partners ensuring attendees stay connected. At Glastonbury (around 200,000 attendees), the telecom sponsor anticipated double the pre-2020 data usage – over 200 terabytes of data consumed on-site (www.advanced-television.com). This level of demand underscores why connectivity now ranks among the top three needs of festival audiences. Attendees treat internet access almost like a basic necessity, so festival organisers can treat connectivity as a top-tier asset in sponsorship packages.

Beyond pleasing guests, connectivity touches safety and operations too. Many festivals use mobile ticketing, apps, and RFID cashless payments. (For example, platforms like Ticket Fairy enable fully digital ticketing and on-site engagement.) If the network fails, entry lines stall or vendors can’t process sales – a nightmare scenario. A sponsor-backed network with guaranteed coverage prevents these issues. In short, a strong network keeps the music playing, the money flowing, and the tweets posting – making it a win-win for the festival and any brand that steps in to provide it.

Partnering with Telecom Providers

Telecommunications companies are natural festival partners because they have the infrastructure and expertise to connect large crowds. Mobile carriers often have dedicated “special events” teams – for example, Vodafone UK deploys a fleet of portable cell sites to major events each summer (www.vodafone.co.uk). By inviting a carrier to be a sponsor, you can tap into these resources at little or no direct cost to your event budget. The carrier deploys the needed equipment (cell towers, antennas, Wi-Fi gear), and in return your festival gives them promotional benefits like branding, on-site presence, and the prestigious title of Official Connectivity Partner. This alignment lets each side play to its strengths: the telco showcases its technology under tough conditions (great PR for them), and the festival ensures top-notch service without footing the full bill.

When approaching potential telecom partners, do your homework and pitch the value clearly:
– Highlight the audience size and demographics. Carriers love events with tens of thousands of tech-savvy attendees (think young music fans who will stream and post constantly). Emphasise how your attendees are heavy data users and social media sharers. For instance, note that at one major festival, fans used a record 225 TB of data over a weekend (www.vodafone.co.uk) – proof that festivals generate immense network traffic and brand exposure opportunities.
– Emphasise the pain point you’ll solve. Remind potential sponsors how horrible the guest experience is when networks overload – dropped calls, failed texts, unusable apps. Cite examples if you have them (e.g. “At a recent festival in Sweden, some networks became so congested that messages didn’t deliver until the next day (www.advanced-television.com). We want to prevent that, and your company can be the hero that keeps everyone connected.”). This shows you’re proactively addressing a known issue.
– Offer exclusivity in the category. Typically, a festival will have one official telecoms partner to avoid splitting the spotlight. This means huge visibility for that sponsor. They won’t be one logo among dozens – they’ll be the sole “connectivity saviour” of the event, which is a strong marketing proposition.
– Showcase the branding and engagement opportunities (detailed in the next section). From a branded Wi-Fi portal that every user sees, to on-site signage “Powered by [Sponsor]”, to creative stunts (like Wi-Fi hotspots disguised as art installations), there are many ways a telecom sponsor can shine.
– Back it up with data and reporting. Let the carrier know you’ll provide anonymized usage stats, heatmaps, and case studies after the event (more on this later). This appeals to their analytical side – they can measure the impact and even use it in their own marketing. For example, telecom sponsors often brag in press releases about how many terabytes were consumed on their network at a big festival, as it highlights their reliability.

Don’t forget that smaller or local events can play this game too. Even if you’re organising a niche festival for, say, 5,000 people in a regional town, local internet providers or smaller telecom companies might be interested in sponsoring your connectivity. You might not get a national carrier for a boutique event, but perhaps a regional ISP would set up Wi-Fi in exchange for exposure. Community festivals have partnered with local telecoms to offer free Wi-Fi as a public goodwill gesture. In one example, Hornbill Festival in India teamed up with Jio – the telecom provided free public Wi-Fi to all visitors and even dedicated high-speed lines for the festival’s media centre (ipr.nagaland.gov.in). The lesson is that whatever the scale, if your attendees need connectivity, there’s likely an organization out there willing to help provide it – for the right sponsor benefits.

Building the Network: COWs, DAS, and Guest Wi-Fi

Once you have a telecom partner on board, it’s time to build a robust network on-site. Start by assessing your venue’s existing coverage and capacity. Is the festival in a remote field with weak cell signals? Or an urban park where towers exist but will be overloaded by the crowd? The answers dictate what infrastructure is needed. As a festival organizer, you don’t have to engineer the technical details – that’s the sponsor’s job – but you do need to facilitate and understand the plan.

Key components a carrier sponsor can provide:
– COWs (Cells on Wheels): These are mobile cell towers on trucks or trailers that can be driven onto your site. They act like temporary cell masts, greatly boosting voice/data coverage. For example, at Austin City Limits Festival in Texas (75,000 attendees per day), sponsor AT&T rolled in two “MegaCOW” units with multi-beam antennas, effectively quadrupling network capacity at the park so everyone could text, post, and call without trouble (about.att.com). COWs are flexible and can be placed strategically (e.g. near stages or high-density areas) to form a blanket of coverage. Be prepared to allocate some back-of-house space for these trucks and ensure they have power and security once on site.
– DAS (Distributed Antenna System): If your event is spread over a large area or has indoor sections (like an exhibition hall, stadium, or dense stages), a DAS might be used. This is a network of smaller antennas placed around the venue, all linked to boost coverage evenly (think of it as “many mini-towers” working together). A DAS is commonly used in stadiums or convention centers but also outdoor festivals with coverage holes – it helps eliminate dead zones. Installing a DAS might involve mounting antennas on lighting trusses, stages, or temporary poles. Your sponsor will handle this, but you may need to allow early site access for their engineers to set it up and test.
– Temporary Backhaul*: All those extra cell sites and Wi-Fi hubs need a way to connect to the wider internet. Telecom sponsors often bring in high-capacity backhaul links. This could mean running *fiber optic cables to your site or pointing a microwave link at a nearby tower to carry the data back to the network core. These are largely invisible to you as an organizer except for perhaps a satellite truck or cable runs. It’s good to ask the sponsor what their plan is, just to be aware. Ensure any required permits (for digging or mounting radios) are sorted out well in advance.
– Guest Wi-Fi Networks: In addition to boosting cellular coverage, many festivals also offer complementary Wi-Fi in certain areas (or even site-wide). Wi-Fi can take pressure off the cell networks and is great for attendees with limited data plans. Your telecom partner or a third-party event Wi-Fi provider can deploy temporary Wi-Fi access points around food courts, VIP areas, stages, and campgrounds. For example, AT&T worked with a tech vendor (TOURTech) to blanket the beer garden and food court at ACL Festival with Wi-Fi, giving concertgoers an extra way to get online (about.att.com). When implementing festival Wi-Fi, consider using a captive portal (a branded login page). The sponsor’s logo and message can greet every user who connects, which is prime digital real estate. One expo in Europe that offered free Wi-Fi to 21,000 attendees noted that the login sponsorship put the company “in front of 21,000+ attendees as they connect… the first thing seen by thousands of potential clients” (sponsorships.vitafoods.eu.com). That’s powerful exposure.

Pro tip: Make sure the Wi-Fi network name (SSID) itself carries the sponsor name (e.g. “FreeFestivalWiFi by TelcoX”). It’s another subtle branding touch. Also, decide if your Wi-Fi will be open access or require a password/registration. Requiring a quick signup can provide useful data (emails or social media engagement) that you might share (with permission) with the sponsor. Just be transparent in how you handle attendee data – it should be anonymized or aggregated before sharing with sponsors, unless users explicitly opt in to be contacted.

Throughout the network build-out, coordinate closely with the sponsor’s technical team. Schedule site visits for them to survey signal strength and identify optimal placements for towers or antennas. Share your festival site map, pointing out where crowds will be thickest (main stages, popular activations, etc.) and any unique challenges (e.g. dense trees or hills that block signals, or areas where you absolutely must have coverage like medical tents). By collaborating on the design, you ensure no corner of your event is left in the digital dark. One useful practice is having the tech team create a coverage map – essentially a heatmap predicting signal strength across the venue. Review it together and identify if any “cold spots” coincide with important audience areas so they can try to address them.

Branding the Connectivity Experience

One major perk for sponsors investing in festival connectivity is the built-in marketing exposure. Unlike a static banner that people might walk past, connectivity is something attendees actively seek out and interact with. This gives a telecom sponsor multiple touchpoints to imprint their brand in a positive, helpful light. Here are several ways to brand the connectivity and make sure the sponsor reaps the full benefit:

• Branded Wi-Fi Captive Portals: As mentioned, if you offer guest Wi-Fi, implement a landing page that requires a quick tap-through. This page can display the sponsor’s logo, a brief welcome message (“Enjoy free Wi-Fi courtesy of TelcoX!”), or even a short promotional video/advert. It’s prime real estate because every single user will see it when connecting. Some festivals and expos monetize this highly – for example, a festival Wi-Fi sponsorship package might be priced in the thousands of dollars because of this guaranteed impression on a captive audience. (sponsorships.vitafoods.eu.com) If the sponsor is a carrier, they might also use the portal to upsell their services (“Experience 5G Ultra – ask us how at our booth!”) or collect feedback. Just ensure the portal is fast and simple – nothing annoys guests more than a clunky login when all they want is to Instagram their festival photos.
• “Official Connectivity Partner” Title & Mentions: Grant the sponsor an official title and use it everywhere appropriate. This can be in press releases, your website, festival programmes, stage announcements, and on social media. For instance, your website’s sponsor page could list “Official Connectivity Partner – TelcoX” with a blurb. During the festival, an MC can thank “TelcoX for keeping us all connected this weekend.” These verbal and written shout-outs reinforce that the sponsor isn’t just another logo, but a core part of the event experience. It feeds their ego and brand positioning. (After all, they’re not selling beer or chips – they’re delivering an essential service that everyone is appreciating in real time.) Be sure to also include their branding on any event app or map where you list amenities like “Free Wi-Fi provided by TelcoX” or “Charging Lounge presented by TelcoX”.
• On-Site Signage and Activations: Work with the sponsor to create visible branding around the connectivity infrastructure and any related activations. Good examples include branded charging stations or lounges (more on that below), wraparound banners on the base of cell towers or on the COW trucks (if they’re in public view), and co-branded Info Booths or Customer Service tents for tech support. Some festivals get creative: at Glastonbury, the telecom partner EE installed whimsical life-size fibreglass cows as 4G Wi-Fi hotspots across the farm, playing off the venue’s dairy farm heritage (phys.org). Each “Wi-Fi cow” was brightly painted and bore the EE logo, making it a fun talking point that merged art, practicality, and branding. Think about similar playful ideas that suit your event’s theme – it makes the sponsor integration feel more festival-friendly and less like a pure advertisement.
• Charging Stations & Lounges: A very tangible way to brand connectivity is by providing places for attendees to charge their devices, brought to you by the sponsor. Phone battery life is the Achilles heel of the modern festivalgoer – people often carry battery packs or line up to plug in their phones. By sponsoring charging facilities, the telecom brand literally “powers up” the audience’s experience. For instance, EE operates a free charging tent at Glastonbury every year, open to all attendees (regardless of network) (www.advanced-television.com). It’s always busy and prominently branded, leaving thousands with a positive impression of EE for saving their phone. You could set up a charging lounge with comfortable seating, shade from sun or rain, and dozens of outlets or USB ports. Dress it in the sponsor’s colours and messaging. Perhaps include interactive elements – a demo of the sponsor’s latest tech, free Wi-Fi inside, or staff handing out promo swag while people wait for a quick recharge. These spaces not only provide relief to attendees, they also create dwell time with the sponsor’s brand. A company providing the literal power for fans’ devices creates a lasting sense of utility and trust. As one event technology writer noted, “For sponsors looking to cut through the noise of typical event advertising, powering phones is a meaningful gesture that draws real engagement.” (thefestivals.uk) In other words, guests will remember who kept them connected.
• Interactive Tech Demos: Since a telecom sponsor is a tech company at heart, they may want to showcase other innovations at your festival. Leverage this! Perhaps the sponsor brings in a 5G demo truck, VR experience, or a display of new gadgets (like the latest smartphones or wearables) for attendees to play with. These can be housed near the charging lounge or in a booth on the festival grounds. It’s an extra attraction for your audience and reinforces the sponsor’s cutting-edge image. At some events, we’ve seen sponsors provide things like free Wi-Fi-enabled photo booths where people can snap pictures and instantly share them (naturally branded with the sponsor’s logo frame), or even experimental tech like AR games around the site. All of these turn the sponsor’s presence into entertainment rather than pure advertising.

A crucial tip when integrating sponsor branding: keep the focus on how the sponsor is elevating the fan experience. The messaging should feel like “Great connectivity brought to you by Sponsor” rather than “Sponsor is here to sell you something.” When branding is tied to a useful service (fast internet, charging, info updates via the app, etc.), attendees perceive the sponsor positively. They become the company that made the festival more awesome, not just another logo on the fence.

Guarantees and SLAs: Ensuring Uptime and Coverage

When a telecom company agrees to power your festival’s connectivity, it’s not just a casual “we’ll do our best” arrangement. You should formalize expectations in a Service Level Agreement (SLA) or contract clauses that guarantee performance standards. Remember, if the network underperforms, your attendees won’t care whose fault it was – they’ll simply be unhappy with the festival. Protect your event’s reputation (and your sponsor’s) by setting clear benchmarks for success.

Key points to cover in a connectivity SLA or partnership agreement:
– Coverage Areas: Delineate exactly where the sponsor must provide service. This could include all main public areas (stages, food courts, camping sites, parking lots for arrival communications, etc.) and critical operation zones (entry gates for ticket scanning, medical tents, security posts). If you know certain zones are traditionally congested (e.g. the front-of-stage pit during a headliner set or the late-night campsite), highlight those. The sponsor should plan for those high-density zones so that at least basic connectivity (texts and app usage) remains possible even at peak crowd moments.
– Capacity and Speed: Discuss an expected level of service, such as supporting X number of concurrent users or a baseline data speed (e.g. “3G or better service for 95% of attendees” or “average download speed of Y Mbps in coverage areas”). While you can’t guarantee every single guest a flawless connection (that’s nearly impossible, even for big carriers), you can set targets. The sponsor, being the expert, can advise what’s realistic given their kit. Use any historical data if available: “Last year we saw ~10,000 devices on the network at once; next year we expect 15,000 – can your setup handle that with low latency?” Getting these expectations in writing motivates the sponsor to allocate sufficient equipment and bandwidth. It also gives you recourse if they were to severely under-provision (perhaps you could negotiate a fee reduction if they fail to meet basic metrics, though in most cases the focus is on prevention rather than penalties).
– Uptime and Support: Define the acceptable network uptime (availability) during festival operating hours – e.g. 99% uptime from gates open to close each day. Furthermore, insist on having technical support staff on-site throughout the event. Your sponsor should station a team (even a small one) at the festival who are monitoring the network in real time and can respond immediately if something goes wrong (like a generator failure powering a COW, an overheated router, or a coverage hole appearing). Quick response is crucial; if a tower goes down, you want it fixed in minutes, not hours. The SLA can stipulate response times for different issues (e.g. major outage must be addressed within 15 minutes). In practice, the sponsor’s tech team will likely set up a mini command center – possibly in your production compound – with dashboards showing network performance. Work with them to integrate their communication into your event control center, so everyone knows how to escalate any connectivity problems.
– Backup Plans: Ask the sponsor about redundancies. A professional telco will often have backups like spare equipment or overlapping coverage. For instance, if one mobile tower fails, can another temporarily boost coverage in that spot? Will they have a backup generator or battery in case of power loss? These measures can also be referenced in the agreement, even if just to acknowledge they’ve been discussed. It’s peace of mind for you. In some high-stakes events, organizers even bring a secondary internet service provider just to support critical operations (ticketing, emergency comms) as a fallback separate from the public network. If your event is very large or connectivity is mission-critical (say, a festival where everything from payments to lighting depends on online systems), consider this layered backup approach.

One real-world lesson on why guarantees matter comes from the Sweden Rock Festival. On one occasion, tens of thousands of rock fans showed up, and while one mobile provider had set up a special mast and monitoring tools to handle the crowd, customers on other networks weren’t so lucky. Those using the unfortified networks found that data was extremely slow or nonexistent – “Messages and images were delivered the day after they were sent,” one frustrated attendee noted (www.advanced-television.com). Imagine the safety risk if an emergency alert or important SMS gets delayed that long. In contrast, the carrier that partnered closely with the festival had deployed a 5G tower and real-time analytics, giving its users a solid experience (www.advanced-television.com). The takeaway is clear: if you’re going to promise attendees that they’ll stay connected, you and your sponsor must do everything possible to make it happen. Through proper planning and a well-structured SLA, you greatly reduce the chance of a connectivity meltdown.

Benchmarking Success: Data, Heatmaps, and ROI Proof

Sponsorship is a two-way street – your telecom partner invests in your event, and in return they expect value. One of the best ways to cement the relationship (and secure future sponsorship renewals) is to provide hard data demonstrating the impact of their involvement. Connectivity offers a goldmine of metrics that both you and the sponsor can use to celebrate success.

After the festival (or even during each day), work with the sponsor’s tech team to gather key statistics such as:
– Total data consumed: This is often the headline number. It might be expressed in terabytes (as we saw, some big festivals rack up hundreds of TB). This stat makes for great PR – e.g. “Fans at our festival used 150 TB of data over three days – equivalent to 5 billion Instagram photos!” – and it underscores the reach of the sponsor’s network.
– Peak concurrent users: Identify the maximum number of devices connected at the busiest moment. Sponsors love this because it shows the stress test their network passed. For instance, “We had 20,000 devices simultaneously on the Wi-Fi during the headliner’s set, and the network stayed strong.” That’s a testament to the sponsor’s tech.
– Average speeds or uptime: If available, share any average download/upload speeds or uptime percentages achieved. “Our free Wi-Fi operated at an average download speed of 15 Mbps across the venue.” If the SLA targets were met or exceeded, say that too. It builds trust that promises were kept.
– Heatmaps or usage by zone: If the sponsor used monitoring tools, you might get a visual map of network usage intensity across the site, or at least a breakdown like “Main Stage area consumed 40% of total bandwidth, Camping area 25%, etc.” This can be fascinating to review – it might correlate with your crowd movements. For sponsors, it’s proof that their equipment was utilized everywhere, not just sitting idle.
– Number of Wi-Fi logins or portal impressions: If a Wi-Fi captive portal was in place, ask for stats on how many unique devices connected and saw the sponsor’s splash page. “10,000 attendees (50% of the crowd) logged onto SponsorNet Wi-Fi at least once, each encountering the company’s welcome screen.” That quantifies the branding exposure in a concrete way.
– Engagement at activations: If the sponsor had on-site booths or charging lounges, try to quantify their usage too. e.g. “5,000 phone charges were done at the Sponsor Charging Lounge,” or “2,000 people visited the Sponsor’s VR demo over the weekend.” You might gather this via headcounts or counters at their activation. These figures show that the sponsor didn’t just put up infrastructure; they tangibly interacted with attendees.

Present these results in a post-event report for your sponsor. Include some narrative and thanks, e.g. “Thanks to TelcoX’s investment, our attendees stayed connected and shared more than ever – here’s the impressive data to back that up.” Such reports make sponsors feel good about the money and effort they spent. It also arms your sponsor contact with evidence to justify the partnership to their bosses or to use in their own marketing. (Don’t be surprised if they issue a press release about how they kept the festival online. For example, Vodafone proudly announced that Glastonbury 2024 attendees broke data usage records on its network (www.vodafone.co.uk).) Encourage this publicity – it also reflects well on your festival as being forward-thinking and popular enough to generate those numbers.

Another angle: use the data to improve your festival for next year. If you see that one area had unexpectedly low connectivity usage, was it because people avoided it (maybe a sign of an unpopular stage or activity there)? Or if another spot had huge spikes each day at 6 PM, maybe that’s when everyone was uploading videos of a big act – which is useful for marketing timing. Network data can reveal crowd behavior patterns. Just ensure any analysis respects privacy – stick to aggregate trends.

Finally, as part of benchmarking, solicit qualitative feedback too. Did attendees notice and appreciate the connectivity? Scan social media or post-event surveys for comments about Wi-Fi or network quality. If people are praising “finally a festival with good signal!” or thanking the sponsor by name, include that in your report. Likewise, note any criticisms if they exist and discuss them candidly with the sponsor to see how to address them moving forward. Continuous improvement is a shared goal – maybe next year you add more COWs or expand Wi-Fi to campgrounds based on feedback.

Monetizing Connectivity: Pricing and Value

You’ve likely gathered by now that connectivity is a premium asset. It’s not a throw-in add-on; it sits alongside your biggest sponsorship inventory in terms of value. Price it accordingly. If you are offering a telecom partner exclusivity and branding as the event’s connectivity provider, this should be one of your higher-tier sponsorships (potentially equivalent to a stage sponsor or presenting sponsor, depending on festival size). Why? Because:

• It addresses a core attendee need. Surveys and anecdotal evidence consistently place “better phone service / Wi-Fi” among the top requests or pain points at festivals. Solving this is a big deal for audience satisfaction – as fundamental as clean toilets or ample water stations. Sponsors pay top dollar to be the solution to a big problem or need because the kudos they earn is greater. When you negotiate, make it clear that the sponsor will literally be the hero of the event for many attendees. That kind of goodwill is priceless (and certainly worth more than, say, another logo on a banner).
• It offers massive exposure. Unlike a sponsor logo on a stage that might only be seen when people walk by, a connectivity sponsor’s brand is encountered repeatedly and meaningfully (through Wi-Fi logins, service announcements, signage at charging stations, etc.). If, for example, 15,000 people use the sponsor’s Wi-Fi and 10,000 charge their phones at their tent, those aren’t just passive impressions – they’re direct interactions. This justifies a premium fee. In concrete terms, some mid-sized festivals have charged US$5,000+ for a Wi-Fi sponsorship reaching just a few thousand attendees, and large expos have priced Wi-Fi packages above €15,000 for ~20k attendees (sponsorships.vitafoods.eu.com). Don’t sell yourself short.
• The sponsor is likely saving you significant costs. If you had to rent similar networking equipment and hire IT staff independently, it could run into tens of thousands of dollars (especially for large events requiring satellite uplinks, multiple COWs, etc.). By letting the sponsor cover those expenses, you’re essentially receiving an in-kind contribution on top of any cash sponsorship. Factor that into the deal value. It’s fair for you to attribute a monetary value to the equipment/service provision in the sponsorship agreement (e.g. “Sponsor will provide an estimated $50,000 worth of networking infrastructure and personnel, in addition to a $X sponsorship fee, in exchange for the benefits outlined.”). This makes it clear how much the festival is benefiting – and it sets a high bar for any competitor sponsor who might want to replace them in the future.
• High engagement can lead to sales opportunities. Another reason to charge a healthy price is that the sponsor can derive direct marketing value beyond branding. For example, if they collect emails from the Wi-Fi portal or get users to download an app, they may convert some attendees into paying customers later. Or simply, by showing off superior service at the festival, they might get attendees to switch to their mobile network afterward (this is not hypothetical – telecoms have admitted they see events as chances to win new subscribers by showcasing network quality (www.advanced-television.com)). So the festival is effectively a live demo for their product. How much is acquiring new long-term customers worth? Likely plenty – and thus the sponsorship fee should reflect this indirect benefit too.

When discussing pricing, ensure you articulate all the deliverables the sponsor will receive: exclusive rights, branding across communications, on-site activation space, data reports, etc., in addition to the feel-good factor of providing a vital service. Because connectivity is technical, some brands might not immediately realise how featured they can be – so paint that picture for them and tie it to a dollar value.

Also, consider multi-year deals. If you find a great telecom partner, locking in a 2-3 year agreement can be beneficial. It guarantees you a stable connectivity solution for the next few editions (huge relief for your production team), and the sponsor can plan longer-term installations or branding strategies. Perhaps in year one they see how it goes, by year two they might invest in a more permanent DAS if they know they’ll be back. You might offer a slight discount for a multi-year commitment or additional perks, but given the rapid evolution of technology, ensure there are review points to upgrade any expectations (for instance, what was “cutting-edge 4G” a few years ago is now expected to be 5G – you’d want your sponsor to evolve the offering over the contract duration).

Lastly, if a potential sponsor balks at the price, remind them of the competitive advantage they gain. They get category exclusivity (their rivals can’t swoop in and steal thunder at the event), and they get to showcase their network under the toughest conditions. Roughly 8 in 10 consumers say network quality matters to them when choosing a carrier, and almost half would pay extra for guaranteed good service (www.advanced-television.com) – so delivering great connectivity at a festival can directly bolster the sponsor’s reputation among a highly desirable demographic. In sponsorship terms, that kind of deep brand impact is worth the investment.

Key Takeaways for Festival Producers

• Connectivity is now a core festival expectation – Treat Wi-Fi and cell coverage as critical infrastructure and a top-tier sponsorship asset. Guests rank it among their highest needs, so a sponsor who fulfills it will be highly valued.
• Leverage telecom sponsors to build your network. Carriers can supply COWs (Cell on Wheels mobile towers), DAS antennas, and high-speed backhaul at their expense, saving your budget while ensuring robust service. In return, give them exclusive “Official Connectivity Partner” status.
• Integrate sponsor branding into the service. Use branded Wi-Fi portals, announcements, signage (“Powered by…”) and physical activations like charging lounges to maximise the sponsor’s exposure. Make the sponsor part of the experience – the brand that keeps everyone connected and charged up. (thefestivals.uk)
• Set clear performance guarantees (SLAs). Hold the sponsor accountable for coverage across all key areas, high uptime, and on-site support. Define expectations for network capacity and response times to outages. This protects your attendees’ experience and pushes the sponsor to deliver quality.
• Plan for peak demand and contingencies. Work with the sponsor’s engineers to map out coverage and capacity for your biggest crowds and worst-case scenarios. Have backup equipment or links ready. Don’t wait for a network crash to realize you needed another tower – anticipate it.
• Use data to prove ROI and improve. After the event, share impressive stats with the sponsor: total terabytes used, thousands of users connected, engagement in sponsor zones, etc. (www.vodafone.co.uk) (sponsorships.vitafoods.eu.com) This quantifies the sponsorship’s impact and builds the case for renewal. Analyze the connectivity data to glean insights on attendee behavior and event layout for next year.
• Charge what it’s worth. Pricing should reflect that connectivity sponsorship is a major, high-value partnership. Sponsors are effectively becoming an integral service provider to your audience – a role that warrants significant investment on their part. Don’t undersell the exclusivity and essential nature of this opportunity.
• Tailor to your festival’s scale. Large festivals might work with national carriers deploying cutting-edge 5G tech, while a smaller local fest might partner with a regional ISP for a simpler Wi-Fi setup. In all cases, focus on guest needs and find a partner that can meet them. Even at lower scale, a well-placed Wi-Fi hotspot or charging station with a sponsor’s banner can go a long way.

By treating connectivity as both a critical service and a sponsorable asset, festival organizers can enhance attendee satisfaction and boost their bottom line. A strong telecom partnership turns the often invisible work of keeping everyone online into a visible win for the audience, the sponsor, and the event itself. In a world where every guest is eager to livestream and share their festival journey, enabling that connection might just be the smartest strategy in your sponsorship playbook.