Texaport helps Underbelly spread festival cheer
IT Services
Key overview
Industry
Entertainment
Services
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Resilient connectivity
Data cabling
High-speed Fibre connectivity
IT support
The client
Underbelly is a premier live entertainment and events company that has long been at the heart of Scotland’s vibrant festival culture. Known for staging some of the world’s largest festivals including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh’s Christmas, and Hogmanay celebrations Underbelly’s influence extends well beyond Scotland, reaching Trafalgar and Leicester Square in London.
Every year, its events division sells nearly half a million tickets for over 200 shows in 22 venues over 25 days during the Fringe, and its portfolio includes high-profile events in London and international locations, such as Hong Kong’s 2016 'Udderbelly Festival'.
The challenge
In order to maintain its reputation for delivering outstanding, seamless events, Underbelly needed robust and reliable network infrastructure capable of supporting a wide range of operational demands across multiple venues and environments.
This meant establishing permanent fibre optic infrastructure alongside flexible wireless solutions that were both robust and reliable for supporting the millions of tourists and visitors who attend its popup festivals around the UK.
Equally important, the network had to underpin the company’s e-commerce, bar sales, and ticket sales, making it critical to the smooth operation of their business. Specific challenges included:
Managing high-volume transactions
With hundreds of thousands of tickets sold and numerous onsite retail outlets processing payments, a reliable network was critical to ensuring secure, uninterrupted operations.
Coordinating multiple sites
Underbelly’s events take place at various locations across Edinburgh, requiring a network design that could efficiently connect disparate sites while remaining agile enough to support the dynamic nature of large-scale events.
Simplifying complex network layouts
The traditional approach to site connectivity often led to complex setups prone to downtime. Underbelly needed a solution that reduced complexity, thereby minimising potential disruptions.
Service level agreed out-of-hours support
Given the late-night schedules and the continuous nature of festival events, immediate technical support was essential to prevent lost revenue and ensure an exceptional customer experience.
The solution
For the past 8 years, Texaport has partnered with Underbelly to develop and implement an IT solution tailored to Edinburgh Festivals' demanding requirements.
Our expert IT Support edinburgh services have been a cornerstone of this partnership, enabling a multifaceted approach that ensures seamless connectivity and reliable performance across all festival events.
Network design and cabling installation
Texaport undertook a comprehensive design and build programme across Underbelly’s key Edinburgh event sites. Installing over 60 distributed wireless access points throughout multiple sites and structured cabling to create a resilient network. The project enabled efficient ticket sales management and secure payment processing across many bars, retail outlets, and other key festival locations.
“Our business is all about running fantastic events and festivals that inspire and attract people from all over the world. A core part of our success comes from providing a great customer experience, whether this involves people accessing event information, purchasing tickets, or enjoying our bars and catering facilities.”
Sarah Fleming Operations Director, Underbelly Limited
High-speed fibre connectivity
In a strategic collaboration with Edinburgh University, Texaport established a high-speed fibre optic internet connection within Appleton Tower situated in the university’s George Square complex adjacent to a major Fringe site. This connection was then distributed throughout the city to ensure that all critical festival venues had reliable, fast internet access.
Innovative wireless point-to-multipoint links
By incorporating wireless point-to-multipoint technology, Texaport was able to streamline network layouts, reducing complexity and providing greater flexibility in site design. This approach not only simplified network management and minimised downtime but also delivered cost savings for Underbelly.
Centralised monitoring and dedicated support
All network equipment is monitored via a central dashboard, allowing Texaport’s engineers to promptly detect and address any issues before they impact operations. During peak festival periods, Texaport even operates a dedicated out-of-hours support service, ensuring that any network hiccups are swiftly resolved—helping to prevent any loss of ticket or bar sale revenue.
The results
Integrating these innovative solutions into Underbelly’s operational framework has significantly enhanced the overall event experience.
“Our partnership with Texaport has therefore been extremely valuable as they have implemented support systems to ensure all our IT operations are fit for purpose and function smoothly throughout our events. As well as delivering the right solutions, they are also extremely hands-on when we do require emergency support at any time of the day, which has minimised any disruption to our business.”
Sarah Fleming Operations Director, Underbelly Limited
This integrated IT solution not only supports Underbelly’s major public events but has also extended to its offices in London and Edinburgh. By installing high-speed fibre internet services and high-grade network equipment, Texaport ensures that Underbelly’s operations remain fully interconnected both domestically and globally allowing the company to continue delivering exciting, world-class events.
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