KRC Genk plays football in the Cegeka Arena, which will soon become the first 5G stadium in Belgium

For a while now 5G, the 5th generation in telecom, has been the name on everyone’s lips. This technology will bring huge opportunities in many areas for KRC Genk: from sports-related aspects such as real-time player data, organizational benefits such as crowd flow and internet of things, to the experience for spectators and premium seats, with digital AR and VR experiences. IT company Cegeka is an important provider of connectivity solutions in the B2B market, with 5G playing an important role in the company’s offering. Soon the range of possibilities offered by 5G will be demonstrated for the first time in a Belgian football stadium.

International showcase and testing ground

With the Cegeka Arena, Belgium’s first 5G stadium, both parties will create an international showcase. ‘KRC Genk is the perfect partner to support our position and ambitions in the 5G market,’ Stijn Bijnens, CEO at Cegeka, says. ‘The stadium is a great testing ground for us, with a unique and impactful context. It is also just a few kilometres from our head office in Hasselt. It will allow us to experiment and make the possibilities of 5G more accessible, as an ambitious and attractive showcase both in Belgium and internationally. The Cegeka Group has everything it takes to make this successful, mainly thanks to the support of Citymesh, our connectivity partner who specializes in building networks for the business-to-business market.’

From a shared history to a shared future

KRC Genk and Cegeka, both international players from the province of Limburg, have been partners before. Their cooperation intensified in the summer of 2019, when the IT company signed up as a new partner and became KRC Genk’s shorts sponsor. ‘If there is such thing as a perfect match, this cooperation comes close,’ Davy Vanhaen, Commercial Director at KRC Genk, says. ‘We have both been through a great evolution, which has brought us far beyond the boundaries of our province of Limburg. This shared history gives us common ground for our partnership for the future. It is an honour for us to be able to connect the flagship of the Limburg economy to this innovative technology. It will propel both of us into the future, with the Cegeka Arena as the launching pad.’

‘Both organizations are connected by the history of the mines in their province. As a family business, we also really connect to the culture and values of KRC Genk as a family club. This is why we are really excited to be working on a bright future together,’ André Knaepen, founder and president of the Board of Directors at Cegeka, says.