Tech on track for 2010

Johannesburg, 28 Jan 2009

Technology plans for 2010 are on track, says the Local Organising Committee (LOC).

The LOC says that the ICT component is in the implementation phase and is on track for delivery for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 and 2010 FIFA World Cup.

“The network that will be installed at the FIFA Confederations Cup venues will have a full 2010 specification. The connectivity that will be installed for the FIFA Confederations Cup will also be used as a 'dry run' for the ICT network functionality for 2010.”

This was also echoed by FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke, speaking to reporters at the recent 500-day countdown celebrations. He stated that FIFA was convinced that transport, security and technology plans were all at advanced stages to ensure that teams and spectators were properly catered for during the tournament.

The overall solution will include international audio and video connections with reliable back-up connections from the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC) to international networks; solutions incorporating a fully-redundant environment that provides a seamless network with 99.99% availability; dual route, secured, high-speed, high-availability link circuits between each one of the proposed stadiums and the IBC and fixed-line and wireless Internet connectivity and mobile telephony for media operations.

Infrastructure plans include the Implementation and support of approximately 40 000 voice and data network ports for the FIFA World Cup and 18 000 data network ports during the FIFA Confederations Cup; support for approximately 10 000 communication and network devices, 4 500 notebook PCs and 4 000 mobile telephony devices.

All-round progress

FIFA, MATCH IT and HBS meet with the Department of Communication (DOC), the LOC and representatives from Telkom on a bi-monthly basis. In these meetings, the participants communicate the progress that has been made and plan for their infrastructure, including national and international infrastructure for media, the organisers and broadcasters.

The LOC says that it is pleased with the progress by the DOC in “ensuring that the domestic telecommunications infrastructure meets the requirements of FIFA”.

A key requirement is the installation of satellite connectivity at each FIFA venue to provide back-up to the fibre-optic network for both the Confederations Cup and 2010. Sentech will be providing the infrastructure for this. According to the LOC, “this is currently on track for completion by April 2009 for the Confederations Cup venues, and in quarter three of 2009 for the remainder of the venues”.

Sentech will also build a second teleport to provide a satellite back-up uplink. The LOC says that “this facility will be completed quarter three of 2009 for the FIFA Confederations Cup”.

Access network between the host stadia will also be a very important part of FIFA's 2010 technology plans.

According to the LOC, “Telkom have already installed the optic fibre cable from the public telephone exchanges to the perimeter of the stadia, for all FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 venues. Telkom will extend the access network from the stadia perimeter into the Telkom carrier rooms inside the stadia, as soon as the stadia precinct physical construction is complete. The access network, to the remainder of the 2010 stadia, is also being installed concurrently with the FIFA Confederations Cup stadia access network implementation”.

International capacity will be provided on the SAT3 and SAFE submarine cables. The LOC says that “the upgrade projects, for both SAT3 and SAFE, have commenced and these facilities will be commercially available in October 2009”.

The IBC, which is based in Johannesburg, will host all TV operations, world news agencies and the IT command centre. The first phase of construction, at the Nasrec Expo Centre has begun, with the next phase set to begin soon, says the LOC.