Orange’s figures show that the use of mobile data by those at the event, which includes use of smartphone apps such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as picture and video messaging and browsing the internet, increased by a staggering 377% on 2010’s totals.
Over 630 gigabytes of data, the equivalent of 4.2 million pictures being uploaded to Twitter or Facebook, was used over the course of the weekend.
The official Glastonbury 2011 smartphone app, developed by Orange, was downloaded a record 100,000 times since launching in mid-May, meaning that a potential 74% of the 135,000 public ticket holders had a copy of the app on their phone. The app was made available free of charge across all networks on iPhone, Android and Nokia platforms.
Following unprecedented demand in 2010, this year Orange provided three Chill ‘n’ Charge tents on site – east, central and west – which provided double (to 1,500) the amount of charging points than in previous years, across the widest range of old and new handsets ever provided. A record 75,000 people made use of the charging facilities over the course of the weekend, representing an increase of 56% on last year.
However, traditional voice calls and text messages still remained one of the most popular ways for revellers to keep in touch, with 4.9 million SMS messages sent (up by 4% on 2010) and 2.7 million calls made (down by 13% on last year) over the course of the festival.
Spencer McHugh, Brand Director at Orange UK said: “Glastonbury still retains its wonderful and unique character at the heart of everything it does, but as festival goers increasingly rely on staying connected via Smartphones in their everyday lives, they have come to expect the same when they’re at an event like Glastonbury. The huge increase in the use of Smartphones this year shows the extent to which the public now turn to their mobiles to improve their festival experience.”