July 19, 2004
Athens poses a test for a wireless world
The IHT has an insightful article on the challenges faced by the Olympic committee to ensure mobile coverage during the Games and offers a round up of some of the services that will be provided.
"The Athens Olympics will attract far more spectators - about five million over 17 days, compared with 1.2 million over 23 days in Lisbon - causing some to question the ability of cellular networks in Greece to handle the unprecedented volume."
Never before will so many people have brought so many mobile phones to such a limited space.
Cosmote has invested more than E50 million, or $62 million, to upgrade its mobile phone infrastructure in Athens, the surrounding Attica region and the five other Olympic cities in time for the Games.
Within the Olympic stadium, the Cosmote network capacity will be increased as much as 15-fold, the company said."
During the Olympics
-- "Samsung will supply the Athens Organizing Committee and VIPs - about 14,000 people - with a mobile phone for real-time scoring, event timetables and logistics, said Jay Choi, Samsung's Olympic technology director.
-- Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications, an official Olympic sponsor, plans to showcase its third-generation mobile service, introduced in May, which offers video calls and Internet browsing at 10 times the speed of GPRS.
-- A multilingual "tourist guide" cellphone service from Cosmote, using voice-recognition and location-based technology, will give users details about restaurants, beaches, archaeological sites, museums, theater shows, transportation schedules and emergency phone numbers".
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