China's IT Olympic Lineup

A mix of new wireless technologies, homegrown and foreign, will play a critical role in assuring a successful Beijing Games

by Fiona Chau

With less than 12 months to go, China is set to launch on a world stage its first-ever Olympic Games in Beijing, showing its modern face and economic power to the world. To assure a successful event, the Chinese government is pouring billions of dollars into major infrastructure build-outs, including an expanded subway, modern stadiums, new roads and a seamless, reliable telecommunications infrastructure. A mix of new wireless technologies, homegrown and foreign, are set to play a critical role in assuring a successful Beijing Olympics, which will begin in August, 2008.

Compared to previous Olympics, the 2008 event will involve the widest adoption of broadband and mobility services in history, says Zhao Jidong, senior VP at China Netcom, the official fixed-line communication service provider for the Beijing Olympics (and the 2008 Summer Paralympics). That promises to shine a sharp global spotlight on cutting-edge broadband and wireless technologies, and up the pressure on vendors and service providers to make sure the telecom players in the event perform as flawlessly as the athletes.

BROADBAND OLYMPICS
It will prove a challenging task to meet the varied communication needs of more than 25,000 media representatives and millions of visitors, athletes and staff members during the 18-day event, says Zhao. Indeed the telecom infrastructure of the Beijing Olympics is expected to be the most complex and largest ever.

According to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will involve 37 venues, of which 31 are in Beijing. Events will also be held in six cities outside of Beijing. Hong Kong will host the equestrian events, while sailing, beach volleyball and some swimming competitions will be held in Qingdao, Shandong province. Preliminary soccer matches are being scheduled in Shanghai, Tianjin and Qinghuangdao in Hebei province, as well as in Shenyang, Liaoning province.

Covering so many scattered venues requires a comprehensive and flexible telecom infrastructure, as well as the deployment of both fixed and wireless technologies, industry watchers say. To meet the challenge, Zhao says China Netcom has invested millions of dollars in upgrading and expanding its optical network, transmission network, switch network and data network over the last few years.

By the middle of this year, China Netcom had connected its optical network to IT systems, a TV broadcasting system and security systems in all the venues. A unique ASON-MSTP based intelligent transmission platform is also being built to support the provisioning of high-quality and stable video streaming over leased-line services via satellite, cable and submarine cable networks, he adds.

The company has also set up a dedicated "VIP" network to provide high-speed Internet connections for media, hotel and organizers, as well as a new service which will allow visitors in media centers and all Olympic venues to access the Internet with an IC card without needing to input passwords.

"It is the first time in Olympics history that we will see the integration of the IC card with Internet access and have it applied to broadband access," Zhao says. "For us, the Beijing Olympics will be a true broadband event - no matter mobile or fixed - which allows end-users to get information about the Olympics, anywhere, anytime, and via any device."

Other telecom services that will take center stage include IPV6-based monitoring, leased line, narrow- and broadband Internet access and VPN for new agencies. Another key highlight is going to be high-definition TV, Zhao says, adding that around 70-80% of the live Olympic event coverage will be broadcast in high-definition.

The company has partnered with operators in Japan and South Korea such as KT in conducting three trials of the HDTV service.

TELECOM TEST-BED
HDTV aside, the Beijing Olympics will also be a test-bed for new wireless technologies, including home-grown TD-SCDMA and WiMAX, both of which will be deployed for the first time in China.

When Beijing won the bid to host the Olympics, the Chinese government promised a "high-tech Olympics"