"The games of the new", nothing less.
The Olympic Committee has set the bar very high for the organization of Paris 2024. The opening ceremony, which will take place on the Seine, perfectly illustrates this ambition.
But behind the scenes, the challenge ahead is considerable.
For Orange, the event's sole telecom partner, it's "an Everest".
First of all because only the incumbent operator has entered into a partnership with the Paris 2024 organizing committee, compared to five telecom operators for the 2021 Tokyo Games. Therefore, Orange is responsible for ensuring all connections during the Games Olympics, then Paralympics.
Two meetings which should bring together 4 billion viewers, 10 million visitors including 20,000 journalists, and for which 40 sites have been selected to host the competitions.
A total of 120 locations, ranging from stadiums to train stations, including the Marseille marina for sailing and Tahiti for surfing events, will be connected.
All this obviously has a cost, which Orange does not officially quantify.
The bill should climb to a hundred million euros.
Technological puzzle
The only opening ceremony is a technological puzzle: 170 barges, 6 km of "parade" of athletes on the Seine, a hundred connected cameras .... we will have to ensure the connection in 4G / 5G throughout of the course "
including under the bridges
", jokes Christel Heydemann, the general manager of Orange.
For this, Orange will rely on the existing fixed and mobile networks which will be reinforced by dedicated means, in particular the deployment of around thirty temporary mobile antennas similar to those accompanying the Tour de France.
Most of the equipment that will be put in place "
is designed to last and will remain after the Games
", assures Christel Heydemann.
A small part can be reused for other events, or will be taken up by telecom equipment.
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These Games are also intended to be those of simplicity: the traditional walkie-talkies used by the organizers and the security services will be replaced by a dedicated application on smartphones.
This technology, called “push to talk” is made possible by 5G.
Similarly, the images that will be broadcast in 5G will benefit from a 4K definition and a latency time of less than 100 milliseconds.
There will therefore be no delay between the live broadcast and its broadcast on the screens!
"
The timings, the display of results, performances... everything will be connected
", adds Bruno Marie-Rose, Paris 2024 technical director.
For the operator, the Games are an opportunity to mobilize internal teams and unite around a common project.
Orange also wants to open the event to as many people as possible, by sponsoring the Marathon pour tous, a race open to amateurs which will be held on the same route as the Olympic marathon and under the same conditions.