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Olympics to pressure mobile networks

Tessa Reed
By Tessa Reed, Journalist
Johannesburg, 28 Sept 2011

Olympics to pressure mobile networks

Reuters.

The use of mobile phones to access the Internet, and take and send photos and video, has exploded in recent years, and is expected to be in high demand during the 2012 London Games, putting pressure on the networks.

"There is a huge amount of work going on at the moment to make sure that we have enough coverage," The Times of India quotes Johnson telling reporters on the fringes of an Olympic conference.

"We have got to be realistic, and in the 100 metres final, or whatever it happens to be, people will want to download huge quantities all over the world, they will want to [send] huge quantities of in JPEG [format] or film or whatever, and that will place massive strain on the network."

Recent plans to develop London's telecoms network in time for the Olympics have included its expansion to tube tunnels, writes BBC.

But the idea, which would let passengers use their mobiles in London Underground tunnels, fell through in April because of a failure to agree over who would pay for it.

At the time, City Hall said it would look instead at ensuring there was "a major expansion of WiFi coverage in tube stations" before the Games.

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