The City of Cape Town is preparing itself to host the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC) for the 2010 World Soccer Cup - a contract that should be awarded towards the end of March.
Pieter Cronje, a spokesman for Cape Town's 2010 committee, says the city, along with competing cities Johannesburg and Durban, is eagerly awaiting a request for information from Host Broadcast Service. The Fifa-appointed company has the sole mandate to produce TV and radio signals for the events.
"We would be delighted to host the IBC here in Cape Town as we believe we have the right solution to meet the Fifa broadcasting needs," he says.
According to the City of Cape Town's 2010 plan, the IBC could be accommodated at a yet to be built extension of the Cape Town International Convention Centre, of which the municipality owns 51%. The IBC would operate 24 hours, seven days a week during the World Cup, scheduled to take place from 11 June to 11 July 2010.
The IBC would encompass studios and production facilities, and would also manage the media centres at the stadiums where the matches and training take place.
T-Systems, which managed the infrastructure for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, says two 20Gbps cables were laid between the stadiums and the IBC in Munich. Only 20% of the bandwidth was used for high-definition TV (HDTV), adds the company. However, the growth of HDTV by 2010 may mean more bandwidth would be needed for the South African games.
Cape Town plans to lay a R400 million fibre optic cable network, which is expected to be operational by 2010, and this is factored into its 2010 planning.
The proposed IBC site is strategically located, Cronje says. "It is close to the Greenpoint Stadium, which will be one of the venues, and to the Athlone training arena. It is also close to a number of amenities, such as the V&A Waterfront and hotels."
Johannesburg proposes the IBC be located at the Nasrec showgrounds south of the city, and Durban would like to host it at its own International Convention Centre - considered to be the largest such site in the Southern Hemisphere.
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