The Olympics

Hanging On The Telephone



It seems that issues with regard to site construction and security aren't the only causes for concern, as preparations continue for the Olympics 2004 being hosted in Athens.



In a rather unwise move (to my view), only one company has been given the contract to supply all the communications infrastructure for the games. The infrastructure will have to feed a news hungry world-wide audience, estimated to be 4BN.



Putting all your eggs in one basket is a high risk strategy, which may not pay off.



The telecommunications infrastructure has to provide services to 60 Olympic facilities in Athens, and the rest of Greece. A network has to be built to carry a broadcast signal from all Olympic facilities to the international broadcast centre, which houses over 1500 fiber-optic cables.



43000 phone lines will have to be set up, along with 6000 high-speed computer connections and 5000 broadband data connections. Secure lines also have to be put in place for the police, and other emergency services.



The telecom infrastructure, used by ordinary Greek citizens and visitors, has to be up the task of handling the load during the games as well.



The company entrusted with this Herculean task is OTE.



Rumours are circulating that there have been setbacks and delays in their efforts to finish on schedule. Greek newspapers have reported that they have only completed 50% of their scheduled tasks.



However, OTE are confident that everything will be alright on the night; and blamed the situation on the delays in building construction, not their responsibility.