Azercell and Ericsson delivered superior mobile coverage for football fans during a major Cup Final at Baku Olympic Stadium. 

Ericsson Radio System enabled a three-fold capacity increase to Azercell’s network, allowing fans to broadcast videos and enjoy high-quality services.

Ericsson deployed a unique end-to-end solution that increased network capacity and secured reliable connectivity.

Azercell, Azerbaijan’s leading service provider, and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) have modernized the radio access network (RAN) and transport network in Baku Olympic Stadium in the country’s capital city. The stadium was densified with multi-standard Ericsson Radio System equipment, including transport and Elastic RAN functionality. This Ericsson solution enabled a massive network consisting of 74 radio sectors to work as a single base station, optimizing resource handling and enhancing user experience.

The unique Ericsson Radio System solution enabled a three-fold mobile broadband capacity increase for Azercell, allowing fans to broadcast good-quality video from their smartphones and enjoy interactive communication services and social networking during the games.

Azercell has noted a significant change in user behavior over the past few years, with a noticeable shift from taking still photos to recording video. The 2014 Brazil Cup was principally a ”selfie” event during which smartphone users shared pictures of themselves and 60 percent of spectators downloaded photos related to the matches played.

With Ericsson Elastic RAN (E-RAN), an unlimited number of cells can be coordinated across the entire network, providing flexibility for network operations regardless of user location. Coordinating and aggregating cell carriers improves user data speeds and overall network performance. The transport solution was built using Ericsson Router 6000 products to get the forwarding capacity interfaces and low latency needed for E-RAN. The stadium network was built on the centralized RAN principle using highly capable and reliable DWDM-based optical network infrastructure based on Ericsson Fronthaul 6000 products. This allowed Azercell to ensure best-in-class mobile broadband services with high reliability.

Vahid Mursaliyev, CEO of Azercell says: “Today Connectivity is about bringing people, countries and societies closer. On such a special occasion, the number one priority for us was to let our subscribers, local and international football fans and guests to enjoy the game and share their emotions and impressions of an incredible event. Thus, on behalf of Azercell, I would like to thank our valuable partner Ericsson for providing their proven international experience in equipping the venue with the latest network solutions.”

Arda Cetiner, Head of Ericsson in Azerbaijan, says: “We are excited to partner with Azercell and implement Ericsson's innovative Elastic RAN solution for the major event in Azerbaijan to deliver high performance for Azerbaijani and international football fans.”