The cinema sector has gone through a number of digital transformations and Kinepolis is organizing to turn this digital transformation into a digital opportunity. This was one of the reasons to equip our cinemas with Wi-Fi infrastructure and we found the ideal partner for this in Citymesh. Bjorn Van Reet - Former CIO Kinepolis
Cinema chain Kinepolis is the market leader in Belgium and operates in seven European countries and in Canada, totaling more than 35 million visitors a year. In addition to its cinema business, the company with roots in Belgium also operates in film distribution, event organization and screen advertising, among others. "The market is constantly changing, there are more and more new products, innovations and new technologies. Kinepolis wants to leverage these new developments to offer customers 'the ultimate movie experience'. Day after day, Kinepolis brings the best movies to the big screen with the best projection quality and sublime audio," says Bjorn Van Reet, CIO at Kinepolis.
"Offering moviegoers the ultimate moviegoing experience. That is the core business and baseline of Kinepolis. To accompany that with an impeccable digital experience as well, no effort is spared. Offering Wi-Fi to moviegoers was one of Kinepolis' projects to make that happen. With the extra data a visitor shares with us, we get to know him better and can serve him even better," continued Bjorn Van Reet. "The wifi network also takes the Kinepolis business events (B2B) to a higher level and offers new applications for the Kinepolis employees," adds Jo De Pelsmaeker, ICT Manager.
In an initial comparison of various suppliers and quotes, Citymesh already stood out as a partner. Nevertheless, we did not take the wifi project lightly. After the successful proof of concept (POC) of one year in Kinepolis Ghent, in 2018 we made the well-considered choice to provide the Wi-Fi infrastructure with Citymesh in the other European cinemas as well," says Jo De Pelsmaeker.
Several elements played a role in the choice of a partner for our wireless network. Citymesh did not only have good contacts and pricing. We looked for and found a total solution. Ranging from a high-performance network for both B2C and B2B applications to the delivery, management and security of the data. Kinepolis is also aware that Big Data plays an important role. It is exactly there where WiFiLab, Citymesh's Wi-Fi management platform, sets it apart. Through this platform, the already collected MyKinepolis data will be enriched and we can respond even better to the needs of our customers," said Jo De Pelsmaeker.
Access points installed in the Belgian Cinemas
