BT gears up for Games with intense training and testing

Trials will begin two years before the London 2012 Games and training will be thorough

BT trials will begin at the Olympic sailing centre

BT is to implement a rigorous testing and training programme to ensure the communications infrastructure supporting the London 2012 Olympics avoids disruption.

The supplier will be responsible for providing all communications services for the Games on behalf of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games. It will install 4,500km of fibre, capable of transmitting the entire content of Wikipedia every second.

The project will be a massive undertaking but getting it right is vital because of its importance for the business, said Stuart Hill, vice president of BT’s London 2012 delivery programme.

“We will know every single point of failure and what to expect from equipment when we start live testing. If a butterfly beats its wings,we will know about it,” said Hill.

“We will also have a comprehensive schedule for service training, as well as second- and third-line support with high-level skills available, so those teams can be referred to quickly if the need arises,” he said.

BT aims to have the infrastructure ready for testing by October 2010, when the first live pilot will take place at the Olympic sailing centre in Weymouth.

One of the first areas that will be tested is the intrusion detection system, which BT will install in partnership with Atos Origin.

The project’s scale limits the opportunity for introducing innovative technology, said Hill. “It is not the time to be playing with technological wizardry. Our goal is to make sure that the infrastructure is reliable and as simple as possible,” he said.