As one of the most exciting major events in the sporting calendar has begun and all eyes are turning to Paris, Opensignal discusses some of the measures intended to support the mobile experience during the Olympic Games and the factors that help ensure that mobile users have a good experience during large scale events.
Starting with the preparations for the Olympics, Orange is focusing on its mobile network, as opposed to Wi-Fi — with Bertrand Rojat, Chief Technology and Information Officer at Orange Events saying “In France, we don’t use Wi-Fi, we use mobile networks.” The operator is using a 100Gbps 60-site redundant IP network to handle the traffic between the event’s venues and rolling out 50 temporary cell sites. Orange is also deploying a private 5G standalone network that will use dedicated spectrum along a 6km length of the river Seine to allow footage shot on boats during the opening ceremony to be transmitted to the TV production center. The same approach will also be used at several venues.
The stakes are particularly high as for the first time, the event’s staff members, athlete teams, volunteers, health and safety, and security teams will use a prioritized push-to-talk (PTT) over cellular service — which will run over Orange’s 4G network.
In general, the main challenge is the sheer number of users at large events — some of which take place in areas where normally there isn’t much need for capacity — combined with users’ voracious appetite for data. This is driven partly by the use of social media, particularly the desire to upload videos to services like TikTok along with the increasing use of smartphones as a tool to help users navigate their way to and around events. The amount of data used can be staggering. For example, at this year’s Glastonbury Festival, 225 terabytes of data was consumed — equivalent to 73,000 hours of streaming HD video. Failure to keep up with this demand can lead to congestion or in extreme cases, users being unable to make calls or browse websites.
Increasingly, it’s not just event-goers who rely on mobile networks. This is because push-to-talk over cellular apps and smartphones are growing in popularity among event organizers, as an alternative to two-way radios. In addition, TV broadcasters use mobile networks to upload their content. For example, the coronation of King Charles III was broadcast over a network slice on Vodafone’s 5G standalone access network.
Mobile operators often deploy extra capacity at such events using COWs (cells on wheels). This approach is most effective when the capacity requirements have been modeled ahead of time and the operators provide on-site teams to continuously monitor the situation and make adjustments as required. Many event venues also have their own connectivity infrastructure in the form of Wi-Fi networks, DAS (distributed antenna systems) and small cells.
To ensure the smooth running of events the creation and enforcement of a spectrum policy is essential. Due to the stakes involved nothing can be left to chance, so all possible forms of interference have to be identified early and all radio equipment used has to be tested.
If everything goes according to plan, then users can observe very little difference between their typical mobile experience and that seen when surrounded by hundreds or thousands of people. This proved to be the case during Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concerts in Australia, Japan and Singapore earlier this year, with our users at the concert stadiums seeing little difference in their Consistent Quality scores during the concerts and at the same venues, 90 days before the start of each tour in the country.
Big events are big business and can draw people from all over the world. For example, the Taylor Swift concerts in Japan drew in fans from across the region, including a large Chinese contingent and were estimated to have boosted the Japanese economy by $228 million. The influx of international roamers they create presents a business opportunity for mobile operators. One important related trend is rising eSIM adoption, as eSIMs can streamline the process of temporarily switching to a local operator for the duration of your stay. Orange in collaboration with Samsung is equipping athletes during the Olympic Games with an eSIM offer free of charge. Last year we showed that eSIM users switch operators more frequently.
Look out for insights from Opensignal on the mobile experience of our users in Paris over the next few weeks. We’ll be looking to see if any areas of congestion arise and how resilient our users’ experience is. Please subscribe to our newsletter to be among the first to read our latest analyses.
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