Yettel has increased mobile network capacity at Hungary’s Sziget Festival by 20% compared with last year, deploying additional 4G and 5G infrastructure to support tens of thousands of users concentrated within the event’s 0.7-square-kilometre site.
The operator said the temporary capacity expansion, delivered with network infrastructure partner Cetin, has cost more than HUF 50 million to build and operate. Around 30 engineers and service specialists have been involved in designing, operating and continuously monitoring the system since work began in May.
The upgrade reflects the unusually demanding traffic conditions created by major live events, where conventional mobile usage patterns shift sharply as large numbers of people simultaneously upload photographs, videos and live content.
Temporary network designed for up to 80,000 simultaneous users
Yettel said between 70,000 and 80,000 people can use mobile devices at the same time during Sziget, one of Europe’s largest music and cultural festivals.
The operator is providing additional connectivity through 144 mobile-cell capacities across 21 locations. Microcells deployed around the festival site typically cover sectors of between 100 and 200 metres, allowing capacity to be concentrated in areas with particularly dense user activity.
Such deployments differ from conventional mobile network planning, where traffic is distributed more broadly across residential and commercial areas. Festivals create short-duration demand spikes within a tightly constrained geographic area, making capacity management and network optimisation especially important.
Yettel said the additional capacity prepared for this year is roughly equivalent to the requirements of a Hungarian city the size of Szombathely.
C-band 5G capacity rises by 40%
Working with Cetin, Yettel has expanded the 31-sector network used at last year’s festival and increased combined 4G and 5G capacity by 20%.
Capacity on high-speed 5G cells operating in the C-band has risen by 40%, giving the operator greater ability to handle high-volume data traffic in densely populated areas of the festival.
C-band spectrum is widely used for 5G because it provides a balance between coverage and high data capacity. In temporary high-density environments such as festivals, additional mid-band spectrum capacity can help operators support large numbers of simultaneous users without relying exclusively on lower-frequency coverage layers.
Yettel also highlighted the energy efficiency of newer network equipment, saying modern 4G and 5G systems require less cooling and can process equivalent volumes of traffic using fewer resources.
Upload traffic increases sharply during festival peak hours
One of the key challenges at Sziget is the unusual balance between download and upload traffic.
Under normal network conditions, uploads typically represent less than 10% of download volumes, according to Yettel. During the busiest festival periods, however, that figure can rise to around 30% as attendees share photos, videos and live content from the venue.
That shift places additional pressure on the uplink side of the radio network, making festival environments useful tests of how mobile infrastructure performs under highly concentrated, media-heavy usage.
Last year, peak-hour mobile traffic during the festival increased by 10% compared with the previous year.
Yettel said 40% of peak traffic was carried over its 5G network, while 5G represented 25% of total data traffic during the event. The operator expects the share of total data carried over 5G to approach 30% this year as adoption of compatible devices continues to increase.
Free Wi-Fi and charging infrastructure support festival connectivity
Yettel, which is the official telecommunications partner of Sziget Festival, has also established a free Wi-Fi zone equipped with 15 mobile-phone charging points.
The additional services are intended to complement mobile network coverage at a venue where access to connectivity is becoming an increasingly important part of the visitor experience.
Sziget chief organiser Tamás Kádár said uninterrupted mobile access is becoming an important consideration for major European festivals as organisers place greater emphasis on visitor comfort.
This year’s event is also taking place following changes to Sziget’s ownership structure, with founder Károly Gerendai returning and management becoming co-owners alongside a group of investors that has worked with the festival previously.
Source: MEA Tech Watch Press Reporter
