Stadium House History

• Stadium House was subject to a large refurbishment project in 2002 which saw the addition of a 42m spire. Despite this addition, it did not take the title of Wales' official tallest, currently held by Capital Tower (80m), because roof height (not pinnacle height) is counted!
• The High-profile site had a carousel within which the installation is virtually invisible.
• Due to its location it was the ideal location for a fastball for a site to support super-fast 4g for the Champions League Final.
• Originally Stadium Plaza was to be the host, however due to a change in ownership, Stadium House was nominated.

Why was this site so important for EE?

• The biggest sporting event to have ever been staged in Wales and the single-biggest sporting event in the World in 2017.
• Live global TV audience of 200 million - twice the TV audience of the Super Bowl.
• Broadcast live in 200 countries.
• Expected to generate an economic impact of £45m to Cardiff and the wider region.
• The "Road to Cardiff" brand is promoted to a TV audience of 1.3bn from the Round of 16 phase onwards, with an estimated media value of £15m.
• What a weekend of football and Wales put on a great show with fans able to get speeds of over 400mb/s thanks to the installation at Stadium house.

The Technology Required

The sites that are capable of delivering these maximum speeds are equipped with 30MHz of 1800MHz spectrum, and 35MHz of 2.6GHz spectrum. The 1800MHz carriers are delivered using 4x4 MIMO, which sends and receives four signals instead of just two, making the spectrum up to twice as efficient. The sites also broadcast 4G using 256QAM, or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, increasing the efficiency further.

Problems to overcome

• Time - The site was needed to be finished from identification to completion in 4 months (February - May).
• Communication - Requirement for senior stakeholders in EE and BT to become involved to expedite the processes.
• Logistics - Council Road Closure: The site originally required a road closure for a crane.
• Organisation - Multiple disciples: Multi visits with multiple teams.
• Weather - Needed a plan B and C in case of bad weather as only 1 weekend was available for the crane lift.

Waldon Services Provided

• Site Acquisition, Planning
• Site Design / Detailed Design
• Structural Analysis
• Construction, D I C I
• Electrical Connection / Management
• Logistic lifting and warehousing

Innovations from Waldon

• HOP App - we brought forward the development of this due to the urgent and complex nature of the project. The photos for the HOP submissions were viewed live from site.
• The above enabled the Hand Over Pack to be delivered Right First Time and with no Defects from site audit.
• No defects from Audits.

What the Customers said

"Stadium House … possibly the highest profile site in 2017 and an unbelievably tight timescale to get it on air for the European Champions League Final.
There was only one place to go … WALDON (MBNL's “go to” trouble-shooters). From the moment MBNL were instructed by EE and Waldon were appointed as the ADC SWC I knew this project was in safe hands.
They demonstrated the way a multi-disciplined project should be proactively managed and run. During a tense 3 month many obstacles were overcome with proactive plan B’s and C’s always being worked on in the back ground to ensure the project would succeed.
The Waldon Team were fantastic with their professionalism, agility, capability and can-do attitude - I would want them on my team every time. Thank you Waldon."
John Reid
NTQ/Site Access Project Manager

"Hi All:
This may well be the fastest NTQ replacement in history with everyone from BT facilities, BT Openreach, BT TSO, BT WS&V, MBNL, Huawei, Waldons, Ericsson & EE working together to hit an immovable deadline.
The site is now on air for 2g, 3g, 4g 1800 & 2600 plus MIMO on ground breaking 2gb fibre transmission. When I was in Cardiff earlier this week I was getting 200mb.
Everyone worked extremely hard, including through several weekends to make this happen so a massive thank you is the least I can offer.
An amazing achievement everyone - huge appreciation."
Lynne Toogood
Programme Director - Network Deployment