When Southampton Football Club decided to upgrade their communications infrastructure at St Mary’s Stadium in 2011, they turned to ACCL for advice. An initial project to run fibre optic cables for a new office area was the start of a relationship which has seen ACCL provide communications and cabling solutions across both St Mary’s Stadium and Staplewood Campus.
A blown fibre network was installed, connecting the 4 communications rooms and all areas of the stadium. This upgraded the network to 10GB, providing a stable backbone for all the applications and devices. Initially 7 core 5mm duct was run between the communications rooms, laid using cable trays suspended from the ceilings above the public concourse, with each length covering approximately 300 metres. Once the duct was in place, compressed air was use to blow through 3×12 core OM4 fibre optic cable, a technique which allows rapid installation and results in less stress on the fibre.
Once the cabling was complete, and the switches installed, a Cabling Tidy project was carried out, replacing all the patch leads. This was carried out over a bank holiday weekend, with a 20 man ACCL team breaking and rebuilding the connections in the network cabinets, so that everything could be up and running again by the Tuesday.
With a stable network backbone was in place, ACCL installed Wi-Fi at the stadium for use by employees and guests.
Advertising and video coverage are important elements of the modern match day experience, and so ACCL then installed a fibre optic network around the pitch, for advertising signage and the 2 large video screens. An additional network was installed for outside broadcast and photographers.
When an upgrade of the training facilities was being planned, Wayne Connors, Managing Director of ACCL was asked to provide advice on the cabling and communications requirements. ACCL installed a fibre optic network with 14,000 metres of cabling around the site and a network and Wi-Fi solution for the state of the art training pavilion. Fibre optic cable was installed to the camera masts, for CCTV and analytic camera operation.
Further projects are already planned and ACCL will be working with Southampton FC as its technology requirements continue to increase.
Matthew Reynolds, IT Director at Southampton Football Club commented:
“ACCL continues to excel and is a valued provider of all our structure cabling solutions. Whether your requirement is fibre, copper or a turn-key network solution, ACCL know what they are talking about. Their project management is end-to-end and their knowledge vast. Wayne played an integral part when we commissioned our new state of the art Staplewood Football Development Centre, including a site wide Wi-Fi solution. I highly recommend ACCL.”
Wayne Connors responded:
“Our long term relationship with Southampton FC sees ACCL operating as both a trusted advisor and an IT installer. Developing the core infrastructure has ensured that we are able to complete projects in the most efficient way, ensuring the stadium and training facilities are able to adopt the latest technology.”
Learn more about our air-blown fibre installation services.
ACCL designs, implements and supports the data and communications networks which provide connectivity and drive business performance. Privately owned, and with more than 25 years of experience in London and the South East, customers are at the heart of everything we do. Our specialist cabling services are designed with your current and future needs in mind, bringing high-quality solutions that are excellent value.
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