107th IOC Session - LA84 Foundation

Telecommunications
The Network
Management Centre at
the IBC.
216
From the very outset, NAOC was determined
to establish a reliable telecommunications
system to cope with the large and varied demands
that would be made on it. Beginning in
April 1994, efforts were concentrated on learning
lessons from the Lillehammer and Atlanta
Games. The excellent user-friendly system developed
for Nagano achieved universal acclaim
and became symbolic of the “high tech” Nagano
Games.
A fibre-optic network was installed to link all
competition venues and main non-competition
venues, and the circuits for transmission of
television signals, telephone lines, and telephone
circuits handled the massive demands with ease.
The number of radio sets and cellular phones
proved to be ample, enabling quick and reliable
transmission of information. The high quality
sound systems and the giant video displays,
which for the first time in Olympic history were
set up at all competition venues, helped to
heighten the mood of excitement.
Thanks to the dedication and expertise of the
technical staff of NAOC, NTT, KDD,
Panasonic, Xerox, and Samsung, the telecommunications
system operated reliably without
mishap despite the severe winter conditions.
Within NAOC’s Telecommunications
section, project managers were put in charge
of the various subsystems, such as the closed
circuit television system (CCTV) and the
radio communications system. Telecommunications
managers were assigned to
each venue, as well as people in charge of training
volunteers. Two hundred technology volunteers
provided backup support at the venues.