Polycom and operational radio through a common antenna network: In the Swiss Life Arena, a single infrastructure supports emergency services and event operations – from the stands to the underground garage.
Project Overview
| Client | HRS Real Estate AG (General Contractor) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports and Event Venues / Building Construction |
| Location | 8048 Zurich-Altstetten, Canton of Zurich |
| Object | New Ice Hockey Stadium with approximately 12,000 spectator seats, main and training ice rink, spectator stands, boxes, catering areas, changing rooms, technical floors, and underground parking |
| Service Area | Hybrid System: Building Radio BOS (Polycom) and Operational Radio via a common antenna infrastructure |
| Scope of Services | Current measurement, concept, engineering, installation, acceptance measurement, training, maintenance contract |
Initial Situation
The Swiss Life Arena has been created in Zurich-Altstetten, featuring an ice hockey stadium for around 12,000 spectators. In a venue of this scale, radio communication is critical for safety: emergency services must be reachable throughout the building via Polycom in case of an incident. At the same time, event operations require their own independent operational radio for security services, service personnel, technical staff, and catering. Massive concrete structures, stands, technical floors, and the underground garage significantly dampen radio signals – however, two separate antenna networks would have imposed a double burden on the construction.
Client Requirements
- Comprehensive Polycom coverage throughout the building including stands, technical floors, and underground parking
- Independent operational radio for security and service personnel, technical staff, and catering
- Both radio services over a shared antenna infrastructure – without mutual interference
- Official approval of the building radio before operations commence
- On-time completion within the overall schedule of the general contractor
- Sufficient capacity for full operations on game and event days
Solution by Motcom
Motcom implemented a hybrid system that integrates building radio BOS (Polycom) and operational radio over a single, shared antenna network. An officially approved Polycom head station with uninterrupted power supply feeds the BOS signal; concurrently, a digital operational radio infrastructure integrates the communication groups of the event operations. Both services are cleanly separated via combiners and routed to the same distribution network – saving pathways, costs, and space without any mutual influence between the systems. A fire department control panel allows responders to operate on-site, while separate communication groups differentiate security services, technical staff, and catering within the event operations.
- Analysis and Measurement
- Current measurement of external supply, radio coverage, and forecast calculations for stands, walkways, technical floors, and underground parking
- Planning and Engineering
- Common antenna layout for both radio services, combiner and pathway concept, communication group concept, coordination with the general contractor
- Implementation
- Installation during ongoing interior construction, cabling, commissioning, and parameterization of both systems
- Acceptance
- Acceptance measurement of Polycom according to official requirements, functionality test of the operational radio under full load, measurement protocol and documentation
- Operations
- Training of operational personnel, maintenance contract with remote monitoring, annual inspection, and defined response time
Client Feedback
In a project of this size, what matters to us as a general contractor is that a partner is engaged and meets the deadlines. Motcom has merged building radio and operational radio into a single infrastructure – this noticeably relieved our construction site and left no discussions during the acceptance phase.
Tom Jakob, Deputy Branch Manager, HRS Real Estate AG