As the days grow longer and spring approaches, VodafoneThree’s work on the deployment of its temporary mobile masts – known as Cells on Wheels (COWs) – across the 2026 special event season is already well underway. In fact, as always, planning for the upcoming season began last summer.
The pace will not slacken for the 2026 season, with the herd scheduled to be deployed over 130 times. Some events will receive more than one COW depending on terrain, the size of the event area, and the estimated number of attendees.
The team are not only managing the increasing demand but a recent upgrade, which has resulted in the majority of COWs now supporting both Vodafone and Three 4G and 5G coverage.
This will ensure these COWs deliver the fastest data speeds, as well as strongest voice calls, for Vodafone and Three customers visiting and working at the events they attend.
Which 2026 events will VodafoneThree COWs be present at?
The season kicked off with Cheltenham Race Festival earlier this month, where VodafoneThree COWs delivered more capacity as well as faster downlink (1.4Gbps download) and uplink (190 Mbps upload) speeds than any other operator at the event.
Across the event, the COWs saw an increase in data usage, handling enough data to stream more than 38,000 hours of horseracing.
The final event of the season, meanwhile, will be Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland, which shuts its gates in January 2027. In between the two, the COWS will be attending:
- Some of the largest sporting events of the year, including the London Marathon & Wimbledon, as well as the Scottish Open Golf Tournament.
- Major horse racing meetings such as Goodwood, The Grand National, Royal Ascot, The Derby Festival and Coral Gold Cup.
- Culture festivals and family days out, including Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, Farnborough Airshow, Royal International Air Tattoo and the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
- Major agriculture shows, such as Devon, Newbury and Royal Welsh.
- The biggest music festivals across the country, including Pepsi MAX presents Reading & Leeds, Klarna presents Latitude, Download Festival, Camp Bestival presented by Debenhams, Audi presents Wilderness and American Express presents BST Hyde Park.
Andrea Donà, Chief Network Officer, VodafoneThree, said: “This year, we’ll be bringing our herd of COWs to some of the UK’s largest special events, delivering fast and reliable coverage to our customers.
“From festivalgoers sharing their visit on social media to organisers and vendors relying on connectivity to keep them trading, our COWs will be there to provide the best possible connection to our customers, wherever they are.”
