Optus tapped as official network of 2018 Commonwealth Games

Optus has revealed itself to be the official network for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, to be hosted on the Gold Coast, and will provide digital connectivity for more than 10,000 games attendees.

The strategic partnership sees the telco become the official support network of the games and provide the events communications infrastructure and managed services.

The telco will support 6600 athletes and 3500 media personnel and deliver telecommunications infrastructure to more than 30 Commonwealth Games venues, in addition to designing and implementing the Games Network, which will enable connectivity for broadcasting, telephony internet and cloud services across all of the venues.  

Optus will provide high-speed video and audio service to 23 broadcast locations to enable media recorded on site to be distributed internationally, to an anticipated audience of 1.5 billion throughout the course of the games. A managed IP telephony solution for more that 2200 games employees and a contact centre will also be provided.

Optus is understood to be in the process of establishing technology vendor partners for the games.

Optus Business managing director John Paitaridis said his company was proud to part of the event.

“A project of this scale, size and importance requires fast and reliable communications. Optus is delighted to have been selected via the competitive process as the strategic partner for the delivery of high-speed connectivity and managed ICT services to the Commonwealth Games venues, enabling the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation team to work collaboratively at locations up to 1700km apart to deliver a world class sporting event,” he said.

“Optus Business will deliver end to end network and ICT services to drive productivity and efficiencies in costs and support, demonstrating Optus’ strength as a leading ICT partner for enterprise and government organisations of all sizes.

“We invest billions in our network and technology infrastructure across Australia every year, and we are committed to leveraging the breadth of our network and enterprise services to deliver an amazing experience for athletes, volunteers, media and fans at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games,” Mr Paitaridis said.

GOLDOC chairman Peter Beattie said having reliable mission critical communications were key to a successful Commonwealth Games event.

“With 6,600 athletes and team officials in and around the field, track or pool, and 3,500 media covering all events, Optus technology will support the global broadcast and provide Games communications for every heat, match and final across every event at GC2018,” he said.

“Our technology platform is complex, delivering a range of services across a large number of stakeholders and venues. It needs to be delivered on time, take advantage of efficient solutions and be consistently reliable.”