• Shared Access worked with a football club to power headsets for visually impaired fans.
• It has installed a private 5G network for fast connectivity and near-instant streaming.
• This article is part of “5G and Connectivity Playbook,” a series that explores one of the most important technological innovations of our time.

This essay, as stated, is based on a conversation with Sam Jackman, the development director of Shared Access, a European company that develops mobile connectivity solutions. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

My company, Shared Access, has been working with Crystal Palace Football Club in London for years to improve connectivity at its stadium, Selhurst Park.

It started when Vodafone approached Shared Access to help build a system for the stadium to ensure excellent service even when all 30,000 fans are trying to to use their phones at once.

Last year the Crystal Palace team came to us for help to support a particular cohort of fans: the visually impaired. In partnership with GiveVisionwere working on implementing headphones that broadcast live images of the match directly to partially sighted fans, allowing them to sit anywhere in the stadium but see every moment in sync with the action on the pitch – and they needed faster connectivity to happen.

Existing networks weren’t cutting it

Before coming to us, the team working on the project tried to run the headset over WiFi, but there was too much latency. People using the headset experienced everything on a slight delay, with fans around them reacting to something on the field before they could see the action.

The 4G network we had previously deployed with Vodafone and even the public 5G networks were not going to do the job. Public networks have a lot of firewalls and protocols that create additional delays, such as having to travel from the stadium to a mobile operator’s core network outside the stadium and then back to the user. It’s also difficult because the number of other users using the network inside the location slows things down.

We decided to install one 5G private network with a nucleus on site in the stadium. This enables fully closed connectivity within the premises, avoiding external data transfer and eliminating the security protocol challenges of major mobile network operators. It delivers near-instant performance, with speeds faster than 4G and even purer 5G speeds than most public users experience. In addition, because the club has full control over who can use the network, it can ensure that all bandwidth reaches only those headsets.

On 21 September, we officially launched the programme, making Crystal Palace FC the first football club in the world to offer a permanent vision enhancement system in its stadium for visually impaired fans. Since we’ve launched, we’ve seen more visually impaired fans who previously didn’t think they were worth coming to a game have a great experience.

Future applications for 5G private networks

While helping these fans see is more than enough justification for implementing this private network, there is also so much timely for how the technology could be used.

For example, food and beverage vendors they could use the private network to power their homes, allowing the stadium to extend its food offering to areas that previously did not have strong enough connectivity. Security cameras could be installed in places where it is physically too difficult to get electricity and fiber cables. Broadcasters may be able to use private 5G to broadcast footage faster and without having to deploy as much equipment in the stadium, which would reduce carbon footprint of their work.

It doesn’t have to be just sports either. I would suggest any type of location to consider: What are your issues? What are the things you’d love to do but think you can’t because of connectivity?

Finally, having the foundation of this private network allows so much room for creativity in terms of what you can put on top of it. Twelve months ago, I had never heard of GiveVision headsets and had never considered using a private 5G network, so this collaboration ended up being a perfect fit. Who knows what other apps exist? I hope that other partners and suppliers will collaborate as imaginatively to come up with possibilities.