Chelsea to offer free Wi-Fi at Stamford Bridge

Can you hear me now?

If you’re ever been at Stamford Bridge for a game, or at any major sporting event or mass gathering of people anywhere in the world for that matter, you will have no doubt experienced the massive drop in data speeds offered by congested mobile networks. Trying to post a picture online from a Chelsea game can be a rather frustrating experience, to say the least. Unless of course you know the password to the locked hospitality Wi-Fi network.

But starting this season, that frustration is set to be a thing of the past. Chelsea have partnered with Ericsson to provide a “free” Wi-Fi network throughout Stamford Bridge. I put free in scare-quotes because you’ll have to register, give out your email, and possibly sign up for offers and ads and spam and possibly other such “promoted content”, but that’s a fairly standard cost, all things considered. They are also expected to put in some safeguards (bandwidth restrictions?) against live-streaming games and other such shenanigans.

That said, it’s a nice step forward as far as technology’s concerned, so well done, Chelsea.