Connecting people and technology for Vancouver 2010

Andy Platten used to be an IT specialist for the banking industry. Now he is vice president of technical infrastructure for the Vancouver Organizing Committee of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC).

Platten’s job is to implement a communications network for Vancouver 2010. It’s a job that is similar in magnitude and complexity to what he deployed in the banking world, but the difference is that the technical infrastructure of the 2010 Winter Games must be perfectly orchestrated while a world of spectators is watching. Communications must be as flawless as the flick of a switch.

“What we’re doing here for the Games is like opening all the branches of a bank on the same day, with all the systems working,” said Platten. “And just like in banking, everything has to run perfectly; customer transactions can’t go wrong.”

Platten said the communications network of Vancouver 2010 is substantial enough to meet the needs of a small town: the Games will require some 700 kilometres of cable to reach 15 geographically dispersed venues across a 120-kilometre area.

Platten and a team of about 3,000 technology and telecommunications staff, partners, sponsors and volunteers will use Nortel equipment for the Games solution, which will serve 90,000 participants. In working with Nortel, the Official Converged Network Equipment Supplier for the 2010 Winter Games, and Bell Canada, the exclusive Telecommunications Partner to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, VANOC is able to build the first all-IP (internet protocol) converged network at any Olympic and Paralympic Games.

For VANOC staff and volunteers as well as athletes, officials, media, sports federations and Olympic Committees, Platten and his team will provide approximately 7,000 mobile phones, 2,000 push-to-talk phones and 15,000 voice over IP phones and fax lines. These devices will require mounting 5,000 wireless access points and distributing 5,000 radios. Approximately 35,000 requests for such services in the three months leading up to the Games will have to be fulfilled.

Platten’s banker acumen will see to it that nothing will be left to chance – more than 100,000 hours of advance testing will be conducted to ensure everything runs smoothly.

The challenge

When athletes, officials and media arrive and settle in, Platten’s team will be inundated with requests for changes or additions to their communications setup such as additional data ports or higher bandwidths to a particular guest room or luxury box.
“One of the challenges that’s been confronted by IT planners in previous Games is trying to accommodate last-minute changes to the network,” Platten explained.

“Now, fortunately, what we have in the Nortel and Bell solution – which is based on IP – is a flexibility that just wasn’t there before. We’ll be able to accommodate last-minute changes much more easily, and I believe we can make this previous challenge a lesser burden in 2010.”
Platten predicts tremendous traffic peaks during sport events. He envisions the scene of a race finish line where a hundred or more photographers are waiting with the barrels of their digital camera lenses squared up for the shot:

“They’ll hold their fingers down on those cameras, and they’ll take ten pictures in a single second — each picture being 15 megs in size — and those photos will have to be transmitted back to their editing areas so that within minutes they can be up on the internet.”
Seamless communications will come down to having the network capacity to deal these sudden peaks.

Enhanced performance

 Platten points out that the robust technology will be welcome news for Vancouver 2010 athletes. At previous Olympic Games, athletes staying at Olympic and Paralympic Villages would typically use an on-site internet café or pay for an internet connection in their rooms. But at the Vancouver and Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Villages, Platten is looking for solutions to more personalized communications services for athletes, such as supplying more telephones and internet connections for individual use.

“Staying in touch with their friends and families is one of the key things [athletes have] identified as being very important to them in ensuring they’re able to perform to the best of their abilities,” said Platten. “If they’re feeling isolated and they can’t communicate with the people who support them, it has an impact on their performances.”

Platten also realizes that people like to stay connected on the go. So, all participants attending the Games will also be able to purchase phones, data/internet-connectivity services, or any related service they may need from the VANOC rather than having to shop around town.

One solution

By banding together, Nortel, Bell Canada and VANOC will perfect a single communications solution through one technology. It will connect organizers, athletes, coaches, media, and most importantly, friends and families around the globe. Communications for any Olympic and Paralympic Games is no small feat. It’s as much about good service as it is about cables and routers.

Platten and his crew will work behind the scenes to ensure all systems are working efficiently and effectively for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.