Cisco has been selected by The R&A to serve as the official network supplier for The Open, the sport’s oldest championship. The agreement covers both the men’s and women’s tournaments and extends to the R&A’s new global headquarters in St. Andrews, Scotland.
The 154th Open is scheduled to take place from July 12 to 19 at Royal Birkdale in North West England. The networking equipment will support the event through an infrastructure comprising nearly 1,000 wireless access points. This setup aims to maintain connectivity for attendees across the venue.
Neil Armit, the R&A’s Chief Commercial Officer, stated that Cisco’s technology would help strengthen the operational foundations of the championships. The deployment includes Wi-Fi 7 access points, C9350 series smart switches, and cloud-managed smart cameras. These tools are intended to manage traffic in high-demand zones such as the media center, concessions, and merchandise areas.
Organizers will also gain real-time visibility into crowd movement and facility operations.
For the R&A’s upcoming headquarters, which is expected to open later this year, Cisco will install an AI-ready secure network architecture. The vendor claims this setup will simplify operations and allow the organization to scale for future device loads and artificial intelligence applications.
Gordon Thomson, president of Cisco’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa operations, noted that sports organizations require a strong technology foundation to utilize AI effectively. He expressed pride in partnering with the R&A to create a more connected and secure future for the sport.