Superfast London Olympic network gets underway

A network capable of streaming the equivalent of 50,000 DVDs every second is being built for the London 2012 Olympic games.

Nortel will deliver the equipment for the communications backbone of the games as part of a four-year contract.

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The value of the deal has not been disclosed but Nortel has also signed up as a tier one sponsor of the Games and the minimum investment for that tier one status is £40m.

Paul Deighton, CEO of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, says the network needs to link 205 international sporting organisations, 20,000 worldwide media, nine million spectators and more than four billion TV viewers "absolutely flawlessly".

Deighton said: "Having Nortel and BT in place at this early stage is incredibly important because our network joins together the 26 sports in the Olympic games and the 20 sports in the Paralympic games.

"It also has to link to the outside world and match the huge demand for pictures and information, be it to TVs, mobile phones, social networks or whatever else is being used in 2012. It all has to work absolutely flawlessly over the three weeks of the games."

BT will oversee the delivery of the network while Nortel provides the equipment, Atos Origin will deliver software, Panasonic the big screens and Samsung is looking after mobile communications.

BT is already working on implementing the system and Nortel is expected to start delivering the equipment "straight away".

Deighton said that the share of the overall £2bn Olympic budget allocated for technology is effectively capped, preventing overspends on the projects.

The network will offer wide area networks, wireless local area networks, a call centre and fixed telephone infrastructure.

Nortel will also provide communications infrastructure at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.