With new IT infrastructure, Vienna’s Marx Halle becomes Austria’s fastest event hall

The deployment of new infrastructure is part of the local government’s digitalization efforts

With up to 10,000 MBIT data capacity, 14 network nodes, 68 WLAN access points, 172 data points, 2.2 kilometres of fibre optic cable and 8.5 kilometres of network cable made of copper, a joint project by the operator Hey-U Mediagroup, Vienna Holding, a company of the City of Vienna, as well as Magenta have upgraded the Marx Halle to the “fastest event hall” in Austria.

Digitalization as the path towards the future

Marx Halle is one of Vienna’s most prominent landmarks. In May 1877 the municipal council of the royal and imperial capital and residence city of Vienna decided to set up the Vienna Central Cattle Market in St. Marx. In the course of this, the architectural jewel, which is now a listed historical building, was planned according to the plans of the Viennese architect Rudolf Frey and completed in 1881.

In 1997 the building was the only preserved wrought iron structure in the city to be listed as a historical monument. The hall, which was originally almost 50 meters long, is now 175 meters in length, 114 meters in width and 17 meters in height.

With the new IT infrastructure, Marx Halle can offer the right network and internet packages for all organizers and event sizes. The maximum bandwidth is 10,000 MBIT. This corresponds to 100 times the performance of the previous system and is far higher than what other event halls offer. Of course, several WLAN networks can be set up in parallel for different user groups.

“During this expansion, it was important not to impair the characteristics of the listed Marx Halle,” explained HEY-U managing director Herwig Ursin. The assembly was carried out in such a way that the parts of the building - especially the historic steel structure - did not have to be drilled or otherwise manipulated.

The cables, covers and network cabinets were installed in gray so that they do not disturb the look of the hall. Most of the components of the IT infrastructure are invisible to visitors to the Marx Halle.