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Focus on technology | September 11, 2008
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Building for 2010
The Vancouver Winter Olympic Games will be the most technologically sophisticated ever
With the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games successfully completed, the world will now turn its attention to the city of Vancouver as it prepares to host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. While Canada’s success in Beijing was somewhat late to bloom, our Olympians yet again proved competitive players on the world stage. But besides the impressive athletic talent, what also deserved a gold medal in this summer’s Games were the great advancements in technology, which not only significantly improved the quality of televised viewing for Canadian supporters around the globe but also augmented the performance of athletes on land and in the water.
Now with just 18 months to go, organizers of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver are working around the clock to create what is expected to be the most technologically advanced Games to date. With a major focus on telecommunications, the expectation is that advanced IT solutions provided by Bell, the exclusive Telecommunications Partner to the 2010 Winter Games, and Nortel, the Official Converged Network Equipment Supplier, will ensure seamless telephone, wireless, radio and Internet communications.
Among the leading-edge developments expected to leave a lasting legacy for the province of British Columbia is the almost-complete Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre (VCEC). Expected to be the most technologically advanced meeting facility in the world, Bell is bringing to the newly expanded and renovated VCEC an unprecedented Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure that will service the Main Media Centre of the 2010 Games.
This and the many other initiatives mean that technology’s role in the upcoming Games will be unprecedented, allowing the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) to manage the thousands of media representatives, athletes, staff and visitors who will descend upon the city and its surrounding areas in February 2010.
Integrated network will deliver the Olympics to three billion people
Bell’s IP system will be the first to deliver all-HD Olympic coverage
The Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre (VCEC) is currently undergoing a massive expansion which will serve as the site of the Main Media Centre (MMC) for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and also function as the world’s most technologically advanced meeting facility. Bell, the Premier National Partner for the 2010 Winter Games, will deliver a fully outsourced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solution to support the expansion.
“We have built into the fabric of every wall and every beam the ability to gain access, either through a wired or wireless connection, to voice, data and Internet services,” explains Norm Silins, General Manager of Olympic Services at Bell. “The flexibility of what we’re providing with an IP solution allows us to really reach out and deliver the bandwidth the user requires, wherever they’re located.”
Throughout the duration of the 2010 Winter Games, the expanded VCEC will house the International Broadcast Centre where more than 7,000 accredited broadcasters and technicians will provide live television and radio coverage to audiences across the globe.
“There is no greater technological scope than providing for the world’s broadcasters,” says Silins. “They will carry every story, message and image of the Games to three billion people, placing Vancouver and the Convention Centre on the stage for all of the world to see.”
The 2010 Winter Games will be the first Olympic Games to have a 100 percent high-definition (HD) broadcast. “That means the bandwidth and quality of service will be significantly higher than any other large event ever carried around the world,” says Silins. “And Bell will be providing the technology to enable that.”
With Bell’s IP communications system journalists and broadcasters will also have access to the most advanced, feature-rich, secure and reliable telephony services, where voice, data and video run over a single, integrated network and where all devices interact seamlessly whether they are wired or wireless.
“All accredited reporters will have access to mobile workstations in the convention centre through which they can access their personal voice-messaging and Internet bandwidth selection that they will order prior to the Games.”
Bell has also embraced sustainability in their ICT solution, delivering services in a manner that reduces cabling requirements and the consumption of copper for the delivery of networks.
Every piece of innovation and technology that Bell builds into the VCEC becomes a legacy for this centre long-term. “Our partnership with VCEC will span over 20 years and we’re looking quite far ahead and future-thinking in the way we’re delivering our solutions,” says Silins.
Powerful tools Bell will make available to the Main Media Centre and convention users long into the future include:
- Bell Communication Pods - a world-first, these pods are compact units that house communications services any meeting planner or exhibitor may require (including video conferencing and webcasting, digital signage and broadcasting). It can be easily placed into position anywhere in the facility, delivering increased bandwidth on-location and on-demand.
- Innovative blown fibre optic technology where new strands of fibre will be blown through conduits on an as-needed basis. This technology will deliver massive bandwidth to any location on the exhibition floor enabling more remote worldwide participants than ever before.
For more information visit www.bell.ca
Supplements Archive
Building for 2010
The Vancouver Winter Olympic Games will be the most technologically sophisticated ever
With the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games successfully completed, the world will now turn its attention to the city of Vancouver as it prepares to host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. While Canada’s success in Beijing was somewhat late to bloom, our Olympians yet again proved competitive players on the world stage. But besides the impressive athletic talent, what also deserved a gold medal in this summer’s Games were the great advancements in technology, which not only significantly improved the quality of televised viewing for Canadian supporters around the globe but also augmented the performance of athletes on land and in the water.
Now with just 18 months to go, organizers of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver are working around the clock to create what is expected to be the most technologically advanced Games to date. With a major focus on telecommunications, the expectation is that advanced IT solutions provided by Bell, the exclusive Telecommunications Partner to the 2010 Winter Games, and Nortel, the Official Converged Network Equipment Supplier, will ensure seamless telephone, wireless, radio and Internet communications.
Among the leading-edge developments expected to leave a lasting legacy for the province of British Columbia is the almost-complete Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre (VCEC). Expected to be the most technologically advanced meeting facility in the world, Bell is bringing to the newly expanded and renovated VCEC an unprecedented Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure that will service the Main Media Centre of the 2010 Games.
This and the many other initiatives mean that technology’s role in the upcoming Games will be unprecedented, allowing the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) to manage the thousands of media representatives, athletes, staff and visitors who will descend upon the city and its surrounding areas in February 2010.
Integrated network will deliver the Olympics to three billion people Bell’s IP system will be the first to deliver all-HD Olympic coverage
The Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre (VCEC) is currently undergoing a massive expansion which will serve as the site of the Main Media Centre (MMC) for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and also function as the world’s most technologically advanced meeting facility. Bell, the Premier National Partner for the 2010 Winter Games, will deliver a fully outsourced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solution to support the expansion.
“We have built into the fabric of every wall and every beam the ability to gain access, either through a wired or wireless connection, to voice, data and Internet services,” explains Norm Silins, General Manager of Olympic Services at Bell. “The flexibility of what we’re providing with an IP solution allows us to really reach out and deliver the bandwidth the user requires, wherever they’re located.”
Throughout the duration of the 2010 Winter Games, the expanded VCEC will house the International Broadcast Centre where more than 7,000 accredited broadcasters and technicians will provide live television and radio coverage to audiences across the globe.
“There is no greater technological scope than providing for the world’s broadcasters,” says Silins. “They will carry every story, message and image of the Games to three billion people, placing Vancouver and the Convention Centre on the stage for all of the world to see.”
The 2010 Winter Games will be the first Olympic Games to have a 100 percent high-definition (HD) broadcast. “That means the bandwidth and quality of service will be significantly higher than any other large event ever carried around the world,” says Silins. “And Bell will be providing the technology to enable that.”
With Bell’s IP communications system journalists and broadcasters will also have access to the most advanced, feature-rich, secure and reliable telephony services, where voice, data and video run over a single, integrated network and where all devices interact seamlessly whether they are wired or wireless.
“All accredited reporters will have access to mobile workstations in the convention centre through which they can access their personal voice-messaging and Internet bandwidth selection that they will order prior to the Games.”
Bell has also embraced sustainability in their ICT solution, delivering services in a manner that reduces cabling requirements and the consumption of copper for the delivery of networks.
Every piece of innovation and technology that Bell builds into the VCEC becomes a legacy for this centre long-term. “Our partnership with VCEC will span over 20 years and we’re looking quite far ahead and future-thinking in the way we’re delivering our solutions,” says Silins.
Powerful tools Bell will make available to the Main Media Centre and convention users long into the future include:
- Bell Communication Pods - a world-first, these pods are compact units that house communications services any meeting planner or exhibitor may require (including video conferencing and webcasting, digital signage and broadcasting). It can be easily placed into position anywhere in the facility, delivering increased bandwidth on-location and on-demand.
- Innovative blown fibre optic technology where new strands of fibre will be blown through conduits on an as-needed basis. This technology will deliver massive bandwidth to any location on the exhibition floor enabling more remote worldwide participants than ever before.
For more information visit www.bell.ca
Supplements Archive
