Vodafone looks to serve 5G+ ace at Wimbledon

As a result of what the recently merged telco believes is a great example of its £11bn investment in infrastructure across the UK, Vodafone has revealed that it is demonstrating the capability of its 5G+ network and network slicing as part of its status as Official Connectivity Partner of The Championships, Wimbledon.

Specifically, Vodafone’s 5G+ Serve experience is giving fans at Wimbledon Park courts – just a short hit from the famous sporting venue in southwest London – the ability to return the serves of elite Wimbledon stars as they’re delivered.

Vodafone said it is unaware of any other publicly known 5G-enabled technology having undertaken such a demo – a robotic arm will capture live serve data from the official BBC Wimbledon broadcast feed and stream it over a dedicated 5G+ network slice in real time.

In all, the demos are intended to showcase the low latency, speed and reliability of Vodafone’s 5G+, with the robotic arm claimed to be able to replicate precisely the on-court position, angle and trajectory of each serve as it leaves the players’ racket, allowing fans to try to return the shots in real time.

The 5G+ Serve is enabled by Vodafone’s 5G+ Local Slicing, For the purposes of this activation, a network slice was configured on the Vodafone 5G Standalone network to guarantee 32 Mbps downlink and 8 Mbps uplink.

Broadcast feeds are streamed over a Vodafone 5G+ Local Network Slice, launched earlier in 2026, which sees a dedicated “slice” of the network reserved to ensure fast, smooth and uninterrupted connectivity. Telemetry is gathered using pose estimation, object tracking and optical character recognition.

Vodafone noted that, accounting for standard delay in official broadcast feeds, the 5G+ Serve releases the ball within a second of it leaving the player’s racket on court at Wimbledon. Delays to the official broadcast feed may extend the time between the athlete’s serve and the robotic arm’s serve.

The equipment also stores serves from The Championships’ history, offering participants the chance to return iconic serves from their favourite players.

Vodafone added that, until now, businesses running critical operations on mobile networks have had to accept shared connectivity without assurance of performance. It stated that 5G+ Local Slicing now removes that constraint and guarantees a private “fast lane” reserved for the customer.

In addition, and importantly, said the operator, the slice can overcome connectivity challenges that are typical of these high-traffic, high-density live events. In this instance, it means each serve can be recreated instantly, even during peak demand when tens of thousands of fans are gathering across the iconic grounds and in the famous Wimbledon queue.

As Official Connectivity Partner of The Championships, Wimbledon, Vodafone has enhanced its 5G network by deploying C-band spectrum across Wimbledon and the grounds. C-band spectrum refers to mid-band spectrum around 3.4-3.8 GHz, which is designed to provide a strong balance between coverage and capacity, delivering increased capacity, with faster speeds over a wider area. Vodafone said this means more reliable connectivity and better performance when the network is busiest.

Performance capabilities of each slice can be customised to the use cases that it connects to – that is, with low latency and high bandwidth, Vodafone believes the network slicing presents new opportunities for businesses, whether it’s fan experiences at live events, helping broadcasters stream “seamlessly” from major news moments or delivering mission-critical connectivity for sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, healthcare and retail.

“With 5G+, we’re not just connecting fans, we’re bringing them closer to the action like never before,” said Andrea Dona, chief network officer at VodafoneThree commenting on the demo. “By using a dedicated network slice, we can deliver the speed, capacity and reliability needed to recreate professional serves in real time, creating a once-in-a lifetime fan experience, even on a busy network.

“Through our £11bn investment, we’ve enhanced connectivity in and around Wimbledon. [Customers of] Three can now benefit from the same seamless experience Vodafone users have enjoyed for years, with able to connect to the best available coverage at no extra cost. We’ve also deployed C-band spectrum to further boost capacity and speeds – delivering a better experience for fans and keeping them connected in the moments that matter most.”

Research from Vodafone’s highlighted how fan experiences at sporting events are cited by 41% of Brits as an important factor in bringing them closer to the action. For some, this includes exploring new viewing angles through AR or VR (16%), while for 12% it’s about having the chance to feel what it’s like to be an elite athlete.