107th IOC Session - LA84 Foundation

An efficient and
user-friendly
telecommunications
system earned the praise
and trust of the media
(MPC).
218
Telephones and Data
Transmission
Exclusive Telephone Network
To boost the reliability of voice transmission,
each competition facility and the main
non-competition facilities were linked by dedicated
circuits as well as private branch exchanges
(PBX) to create an exclusive “Olympic
network”. All calls within the network were free
of charge, with numbers comprising 5-digits.
Calls could be made outside the network or
abroad by first dialling ‘0’, and telephones
offered various functions including call forwarding,
conference call, and call pick up. Staff
whose work required them to be frequently on
the move were supplied with cordless telephone
handsets that could be used in conjunction with
the PBXs within a certain area, and functioned
as PHS cellular phones outside the area. All
rooms in the Media Villages were supplied with
network phones. Twenty thousand copies of the
official network telephone directory were distributed.
PBXs 22
Digital leased circuits (1.5M HSD) 92
ISDN 1500 152
Phones used by NAOC 6,602
Rented phones 2,629
Cordless phones 269
Average no. of calls each day
during the Games 104,050
Average calling rate 825 erlangs
Total no. of calls on exclusive network
1,664,811
Regular Business Phones
Rather than Olympic network telephones,
regular business telephones were installed at
locations such as airports and parking lots where
there was relatively little demand. Fax machines
were also connected to regular lines in order to
alleviate demand on the Olympic network. A
total of 1,647 regular circuits were used for
Games operations, while1,502 regular circuits
were supplied for rental under the rate cards.
Pay Phones
In response to NAOC’s request for the installation
of temporary pay phones for domestic
and international calls, NTT installed 763 temporary
pay phones. KDD also installed 217 temporary
pay phones, some of which could be
used with credit cards. A number of the temporary
pay phones were equipped to send faxes. A
“phone home” room equipped with pay phones
and sofas was set up in the Olympic Village for
the athletes.
Card Phones for the Press
All common working spaces at the MPC
and SPCs were equipped with card-operated
telephones at a ratio of one phone for every two
seats. Telephone cards were available for purchase
at telecom service centres, telecom counters,
and vending machines. The NTT telephone
card could be used for telephones equipped with
ISDN lines. NTT supplied 887 card phones
while KDD supplied 761.