The new, state-of-the-art multipurpose hall in Czechia, currently under construction in Brno–Pisárky, will bear the name T-Mobile ARENA and will be marked with the “T” logo. The partnership with the operator, set for two years with an option for one additional year, will bring top-class infrastructure ensuring reliable connectivity, safe operation, and support for modern digital services, as well as a wide range of benefits for T-Mobile customers.
A suitable location for the new arena, in the western part of the exhibition grounds, was introduced by the City of Brno council in February 2019. “Since then, less than seven years have passed – we have acquired the land, the arena has been designed and approved, the contractor selected, and since September 2023, work has been in full swing on one of the city’s most strategic projects. The ceremonial opening in autumn 2026 will be a major event for us. Our city will finally have a multifunctional arena offering modern facilities, top-notch technical equipment, and perfect comfort for visitors,” commented the Mayor of Brno, Markéta Vaňková, adding: “We see this project as very significant not only for our residents but also in terms of business opportunities and tourism. The arena’s accessibility via the highway and major city ring road, along with proximity to international airports in Prague, Bratislava, Vienna, Budapest, and Krakow, is an important advantage.”
“The project, worth nearly CZK 5 billion excluding VAT, will offer 30 different usage configurations, a capacity of up to 13,300 spectators, and 1,300 parking spaces. We plan to host around one hundred events annually. More than 60% of the program will consist of concerts by Czech and international artists, family shows, and other cultural events. Sports will also play a major role. The arena will become the home of HC Kometa Brno, transforming into the second-largest ice hockey hall in Brno for their games. We already have confirmed bookings for various European championships and world tournaments,” said Petr Kratochvíl, Chairman of the Board of ARENA BRNO.
“We see the arena as a gateway to exceptional experiences that connects the worlds of sports, culture, and entertainment, while bringing great benefits to our customers. We are preparing, for example, early ticket purchase opportunities through Magenta Moments, contests for attractive prizes, and special zones – all of which will be announced just before the T-Mobile ARENA opens next year. We already know that our customers will enjoy superb connectivity and state-of-the-art digital services, allowing them to share experiences with their loved ones and feel #MeziSvými. We believe that concerts here will attract our customers from neighbouring countries as well,” said Petar Babić, Commercial Director for the Residential Segment and Member of the Management Board of T-Mobile Czech Republic.
The massive ammount of visitors within a limited space places high demands on network capacity and seamless connectivity. The operator will therefore introduce a comprehensive solution based on top-class infrastructure that ensures reliable connectivity, safe operation, and support for modern digital services for both visitors and operators. Thanks to many years of experience in implementing similar projects, it will combine proven technologies with an innovative approach emphasizing flexibility, scalability, customer experience, and future technological development in line with current market needs – turning T-Mobile ARENA into a digital hub of entertainment and innovation. Among the technologies deployed will be the latest massive MIMO (mMIMO) solutions for the midband and C-band frequencies, which T-Mobile was the first operator in the Czech Republic to successfully test in autumn this year. It will also be essential to ensure priority communication for the Integrated Rescue System (IRS). Visitors will naturally expect flawless connectivity – the arena will therefore be divided into seven sectors, similar to a city where every street has
its own dedicated base station. The total length of optical fibres will reach several tens of kilometres. For comparison, the total data volume transferred during a single event will exceed the amount transmitted in a small city in an entire day.
More about the arena:
The hall has above-ground dimensions of 151 m × 108 m and reaches a height of approximately 29.5 m. The built-up area covers 16,470 m², with a total enclosed volume of 475,000 m³. Construction has required 6,826 tons of steel and 30,000 m³ of concrete. The total formwork area covers 69,054 m². The reinforced concrete structures were made to visual concrete class PB2, meeting higher aesthetic requirements. During construction of the 60 cm thick foundation slab, six trucks with reinforcement and three trucks with formwork were dispatched daily. At peak workload, according to Hochtief, the general contractor, approximately 170 workers were directly involved on site – including 14 technicians, 40 ironworkers, 70 carpenters, 25 concreters, and 31 auxiliary workers. The roof structure was installed using Europe’s largest crane with a lifting capacity of 750 tons. The hall consists of eight floors – two underground and six above ground.
More technological details:
· The total area of up to 30,000 m² with a variable layout and attenuation zones requires top-level and flexible technical solutions.
· To ensure high-quality mobile signal coverage throughout the arena, a robust iDAS (Indoor Distributed Antenna System) will be installed. This system is designed to reflect the specifics of each zone (auditorium, entrance halls, garages, backstage, catering facilities). iDAS works as a network of smaller antennas distributed throughout the building, delivering a “clean signal” directly to each part of the venue. The principle can be compared to a sound system with multiple speakers – instead of one source whose signal would be lost through walls and ceilings, iDAS evenly distributes the signal across the entire hall. The technical solution is based on RRU and bRRU (Radio Remote Unit) transmission units connected via combiner panels to a coaxial cable network. This ensures stable and high-quality coverage even in areas with strong attenuation, allowing users to have reliable mobile signal anywhere in the arena.
· The latest massive MIMO (mMIMO) technologies will be deployed for midband and C-band frequencies. This is a solution that T-Mobile was the first operator in the Czech Republic to successfully test in the autumn of this year. The uniqueness of this antenna technology lies in its ability to direct the signal precisely where it is needed. Thanks to this, the network can serve thousands of visitors simultaneously, without loss of speed or quality. The result is a stable and lightning-fast connection for everyone, even in a sold-out arena.
· To maximize capacity and throughput, a wide spectrum of frequency bands will be used: NR700 (10MHz) / LTE800 (10MHz) / GSM900 / LTE1800 (20MHz) / LTE2100 (20MHz) / LTE2600 (30MHz) and the key 5G C-Band 3500 (130MHz). The SISO (Single Input Single Output) technology ensures stable coverage even in environments where signal would typically weaken.
· The total width of all frequency bands used to cover the auditorium will reach 220 MHz. This will enable peak speeds up to 2 Gbps on the downlink, and the total aggregated capacity in the seating area and on the arena floor may – depending on radio frequency conditions, i.e., the real propagation environment in the hall – reach an extraordinary 45 Gbps.
· Between the lower and upper technology rooms, there will be more than 500 optical fibres (for all three operators). The total length of optical fibre will reach several tens of kilometres.
· The auditorium coverage is divided into seven sectors – six for the seating areas and one central sector for the playing field, ensuring precise and even capacity distribution.
· The arena will be connected to the infrastructure using dark fibres. The arena will have 2×48 fibres available, providing huge reserve capacity for future development. Dark fibre allows full control over transmission capacity and security, with the possibility of capacity expansion at any time if needed.
· Connectivity will be terminated on WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) with a potential speed of up to 50 Gbps, depending on the current needs of T-Mobile ARENA.
· The solution also emphasizes security and resilience of the entire infrastructure. The network is designed to ensure reliable communication for Integrated Rescue System (IRS) units even in critical situations, and to remain available throughout all areas of the arena, including garages, backrooms, and evacuation routes. In practice, this means that the network provides priority access to IRS, guaranteeing connection even during peak load.