- The Olympic Games, a showcase event on the sporting calendar, will come to Paris next year.
- Games organizers plan to use a 5G mobile network to make sharing high-fidelity video more seamless.
- 5G connections could also power haptic tablets for blind people to follow the events.
- This article is part of "5G Playbook," a series exploring one of our time's most important tech innovations.
Few sporting events on the calendar match the Olympic Games in technical complexity. At the next Olympics, which will be in Paris from July 26 to August 11, 2024, there will be a mind-boggling amount of tech underpinning its smooth running.
According to organizers, there will be 12,000 connected screens, 8,000 WiFi terminals, and 13,000 computers connected by nearly 250,000 miles of fiber-optic cable, which will transmit the games from the stadiums. 5G and other connections will also power access to the venues: The 2024 Paris Olympics will be the first to operate solely with digital — not paper — tickets.
5G testing is already underway for the Paris Olympics
Bertrand Rojat, the chief technology innovation officer at Orange Events, an event-tech company, told Business Insider that Orange is currently testing tech solutions across future Olympic sites to ensure they can handle the games' demands. He said the first wave of tests successfully took place this summer, showing that the network could withstand the kinds of traffic required around a major event such as the Olympics.
Those trials will help inform how organizers use 5G throughout the games, with operators deploying private 5G networks in some venues. "These networks will be used, for example, to help deliver high-quality video coverage of the event," Rojat said. Small cameras will get close to the athletes to provide viewers with an immersive experience.
That's important, Bruno Marie-Rose, the chief information and technology officer of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee, said in a press release. "We want technology to have a direct benefit on the event," he said. "One example of 'useful' innovation is private 5G, which would allow us to broadcast mobile TV images, where wired cabling would be too unwieldy." In that case, 5G could help distribute high-fidelity video over mobile internet.
The opening ceremony will also use 5G: At the Paris Olympics, instead of the traditional parade around a stadium, the athletes will move down the Seine River in boats. "To provide immersive video to spectators around the world, we'll have to position cameras on each boat and transmit the footage using Orange's private 5G," Marie-Rose said. It's not possible to run physical cables or fiber optic to moving boats, so instead, the private 5G network will come into play.
"There's also the issue of mobile coverage, with a huge number of spectators gathered along the quays who will want to share the event live and simultaneously around the world, which is something we're working with all mobile operators on," Marie-Rose added.
The trial this summer has helped Orange expand its connectivity beyond Paris, Rojat said. "Ahead of the Olympic Games, Orange is reinforcing its 5G coverage across France, including on all Olympics sites," he added.
"It will enhance the consumer experience and, for example, how spectators can share with family and friends videos and photos from their phone."
But the 5G mobile capacity won't just be useful for those who want to share moments. It'll also help expand access to the excitement of the Olympics for those who might have previously felt excluded. "Our 5G mobile capacity will also allow additional services, such as haptic tablets for blind people to follow the events in real-time," Rojat said. "This innovation will make the Games more accessible and enjoyable for all."
It'll also help the athletes, Marie-Rose said. "Our mission is to allow athletes to perform at their peak during the four weeks of Olympic and Paralympic competitions," he said. "Technology must serve this purpose."