Focus on technology: Sustainability of Olympic proportions   |  May 27, 2009  

PDF version (800KB)

The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) has established “Sustainability Performance Objectives” and, in alignment with its own commitment to corporate-social responsibility, Bell, a Premier National Partner and the exclusive Telecommunications Partner to the 2010 Winter Games, is delivering an unprecedented telecommunications solution that continues to focus on social, economic and environmental sustainability.

When the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games begin in February, every image, video, story and score broadcast from the Games will be distributed on Bell’s 2010 Winter Games network to more than three billion people at locations across the globe. Bell has completed the construction of a 285-kilometer fiber optic network that runs from the city of Vancouver, along the Sea-to-Sky Highway, through Squamish and up to Whistler. This will facilitate near-instant communication and transfer of information as a high-quality, high-performing phenomena.

Bell has also constructed an Olympic-grade wireless network to support critical communication needs during the 2010 Winter Games and beyond. The combination of Bell’s wireless and fiber networks will mean unprecedented coverage for British Columbians before, during and as a legacy after the Games.

“We have committed to making sustainability planning a priority throughout our Olympic technology build, and we continue to focus on the well-being of the local community, animal population and the environment,” says Norm Silins, Bell’s General Manager of Olympic Venues.

Over the past five years, Bell has been working to provide seamless wireless coverage for mobile users in and around all Olympic venues. This includes the highway and surrounding areas that stretch between Vancouver and Whistler. “There were certain isolated areas along this corridor that were challenging for us,” explains Silins. To solve this, Bell successfully created the first solar powered cell site in Western Canada, located on Anvil Island. The energy produced via sunlight will be enough to provide 24-hour coverage to this once dead zone. “Not only will this be necessary to support the vast increase in mobile traffic during the Olympic Games, but it will provide cellular service to thousands of people and leave a positive legacy for local communities,” says Silins.

Bell has also worked extensively with local governments and First Nations peoples to ensure its work has no negative impact on the environment, culture and heritage of these communities. This has included pre-construction flora and fauna studies, research of migratory bird paths and assurance that the build will not disturb Indigenous burial grounds or sacred sites.

“At the Cheakamus site, near Whistler, we realized that the building of a cell site and accompanying road needed to access the area would risk interfering with the natural mating patterns of frogs,” says Silins. “As a result, we created an undisturbed pathway that would ensure the frogs could cross from one pond to the other.”

“These are just a few examples of how we worked with third-party environmental consultants to ensure we minimized our footprint.”


Sustainable planning is a priority in Bell’s everyday business and an integral component of its Olympic technology solution:

• Bell is delivering the first all-IP Olympics, reducing the amount of cabling and infrastructure needed 
• Bell’s 2010 Winter Games network will be a legacy to local businesses, giving them access to more bandwidth so they can be more competitive 
• Bell supports the local economy and local innovation by hiring locally wherever possible 
• In its procurement processes, Bell aims to work with vendors that embrace and support its sustainability practices 
• The completion of Bell’s Olympic-grade wireless network means the delivery of a sustainable wireless network featuring 99.9 per cent availability and less than two per cent dropped calls

 



For more information visit www.bell.ca/enterprise