PRESS RELEASE
- EE celebrates third year as official technology partner for Glastonbury Festival.
- Festival goers to benefit from largest festival phone charging service - more than 200,000 EE Power Bar swaps expected alongside traditional charging
- Mobile 4G network to be installed at Worthy Farm to offer superfast connectivity
- Official Glastonbury App upgraded with new features as part of partnership
- Also announced today - exclusive PAYG offer includes the chance to win tickets to Glastonbury
London, Thursday 21st May 2015: EE, the UK’s biggest and most advanced digital communications company, announces its third year as the official technology and communications partner to Glastonbury Festival with the world’s largest festival mobile phone charging operation, featuring the EE Power Bar.
EE will be keeping festival-goers connected with two Power Bar Exchange points on site this year, able to accommodate over 200,000 Power Bar swaps during the festival weekend.
The EE Power Bar – an easy-to-use portable phone charger – was launched at Glastonbury last year as a queue-busting alternative to traditional charging. Users can charge their phone on the go with the bar and then, once it runs out of juice, simply swap it for a fully charged one at the designated Exchange sites.
Spencer McHugh, Director of Brand at EE, said: “Our Power Bar phone charging initiative began at Glastonbury in 2014 and proved so popular that we launched it last month as a year-round loyalty scheme for all customers. We received over a million requests in just four days, so to say there is huge demand for this simple charging solution is an understatement, and at festivals the need for a fully-charged phone is even greater.
“Last year, we know customers uploaded the equivalent of 1.5 million pictures during the festival and downloaded 2.5 terabytes of data, which is the same as 650,000 headlining tracks. To meet this demand we are rolling out the EE Power Bar swap scheme on an unprecedented scale. For us, this is just the next step in making the UK’s best-loved festival even better connected.”
This year, anyone wishing to take advantage of the swapping system on-site must have an official 2015 EE Power Bar and will need to register for a special wristband by the 7th June. The wristband allows each user one swap per day. EE Power Bars are available (subject to stock availability) at no charge* to all EE, Orange or T-Mobile customers, non-EE customers can pay £20 to take part in the scheme. All Glastonbury-goers will be contacted directly on May 26th to confirm the details of this process.
Traditional charging in the EE Recharge tent – which is free to all – will also be available on site from EE ensuring as many festival-goers as possible can stay powered up.
Back for the third year running, across the whole Worthy Farm site, will be EE’s award-winning superfast 4G network, enabling guests at the festival to upload pictures and videos in record time. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds will be inundated with action live throughout the sold out event. EE’s on site network infrastructure – which features six mobile masts - is expected to carry over three terabytes of data across the weekend.
EE is also working alongside Glastonbury Festival to update the official Glastonbury app with a new look and exciting new features for 2015. The upgraded app will be available in June and allow those on site to stay better connected with friends than ever before. The app is the ultimate Glastonbury companion: last year it was accessed over 3million times with a total of nearly nine years’ of combined usage.
As well as offering unrivalled connectivity and EE Power on an epic scale, EE is celebrating the beginning of festival season by introducing a brand new PAYG offer** designed to help EE customers get the most from the upcoming festival season. All customers who order the limited edition SIM by midnight on Sunday 31st May will be automatically entered into a prize draw to win one of two pairs of Glastonbury tickets with no obligation to top up. Anyone who chooses to top up for just £10 can also enjoy 100GB of free data per month (for two months) on top of the regular bundle. To take advantage of this promotion, customers simply need to order a £10 Data Pack SIM from EE – PAYG SIMs can be ordered from EE shops, telesales or via www.ee.co.uk.
For the latest news and updates go to EE.co.uk/Glastonbury.
About the EE Power Bar
The EE Power Bar is a portable mini phone-charger that provides up to five hours of charging time – or the equivalent of one full charge for an average smartphone. When the bar runs out of juice on site, users can exchange it for a fully-charged one at the dedicated EE Exchange sites for no additional charge once a day. The Exchange Cabin and EE Recharge tent will be clearly marked on the Glastonbury Festival map which is available via the official Glastonbury 2015 app – free to download on iOS and Android handsets closer to the festival. More will be announced on the app in due course.
EE Power Bar users will be advised that only the official 2015 EE Power Bar (identified by its aqua and yellow colour and EE logo) will be exchanged for a fully charged unit on site – any other type of charger will not be accepted as part of the deal from EE. Users can keep their reusable Power Bar at the end of the festival but are advised they will most likely return with a different one that they originally purchased due to the nature of the service. EE cannot guarantee the aesthetic condition of swapped recharged Power Bars, again due to the nature of the service, but any swapped Power Bar will be checked to ensure it is fully charged and in good working condition before being returned to the user.
NB: Last year’s aqua EE-branded ‘Festival Power Bar’ will not be accepted as part of this year’s swap scheme
*To take part in the swap scheme users must already have an official EE Power Bar, and a wristband. EE, Orange and T-Mobile customers are entitled to a Power Bar for no charge on a ‘free to hire’ basis. As the year-round loyalty scheme is currently on a ‘pause’ due to high demand any customer going to Glastonbury will be contacted on May 26th and asked to register for a special code. Glastonbury Power Bar stock has been safe-guarded in order to fulfil the demand of this separate promotion. Non-EE customers going to Glastonbury can pay to take part in the scheme from May 26th – more details on how to do this will be sent directly to Glastonbury-goers.
There will also be traditional charging on site this year for those not wanting to use the Power Bar service. The EE Recharge tent will offer festival-goers, irrespective of which mobile network they are on, a space to recharge their mobile devices, free of charge. Various charging points for multiple types of device will be available, including ‘retro’ spaces for those with older handsets.
**About the PAYG offer
The PAYG Ltd Edition SIM offer is redeemable until 18th June and customers can enjoy 100GB of data for 30 days from the day the offer is verified. What’s more, the 100GB will be topped up at the end of the first 30 days to provide a second month of superfast 4GEE fun.
Only those who order the SIM before midnight on May 31st will be entered into the prize draw to win Glastonbury tickets. There is no obligation to top up £10 in order to be entered into the Glastonbury prize draw. Customers only need to top up £10 to take part in the 100GB data offer.
All customers who order the Limited Edition SIM are eligible to top up £10 and then text 100GB to 150 to receive a great value PAYG Data Pack (1GB, 50 mins & 50 texts) and 100GB of superfast 4GEE every month, for 2 months on top, which is enough to stream the festival 5 times over! The offer closes on the 18thJune.
About EE
EE is the largest and most advanced digital communications company in Britain, delivering mobile and fixed communications services to consumers, businesses, government and the wholesale market. EE has approximately 14,000 employees and 548 retail stores, and serves more than 30 million customers across its mobile, fixed and wholesale businesses.
EE runs the UK's biggest and fastest mobile network, pioneering the UK's first superfast 4G mobile service in October 2012 and is the first European operator to surpass the 10million 4G customer landmark. EE's 4G coverage today reaches more than 87% of the UK population. EE’s 2G coverage reaches 99% of the population while 3G reaches 98%. EE's superfast fibre broadband service covers 74% of the UK population, and ADSL broadband service covers 98.7% of the population.
In the last few years, EE has received extensive independent recognition including being ranked the UK's best overall network by RootMetrics®; Best Network at the 2014 and 2015 Mobile News Awards; Fastest Network at the 2013 and 2014 uSwitch Awards; Best Network at the 2014 Mobile Choice Consumer Awards and the What Mobile Awards 2013 and 2014; Number One for Network Innovation at the 2013 Recombu Awards; Best Mobile Network at the 2014 Recombu Awards; Best Network for Business at the 2013 and 2014 Mobile Industry Awards; and Best Consumer Network at the 2014 Mobile Industry Awards.
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