The FIFA Soccer World Cup 2006 in Germany is a distant memory and football fans the world over are firmly back at the grindstone after a few lenient weeks.
However, for the people at the southern tip of Africa, the end is simply the beginning as they prepare for their 15 minutes of fame on the world football stage four years from now.
As a German, the disappointment of the host nation not winning the World Cup is nothing compared to the joy of gaining so many new friends around the globe who felt welcome in our country and well taken care of.
I am sure that the South African organisers of the 2010 World Cup will have learnt many lessons from the German experience, especially when it comes to the provision of technology and infrastructure.
Development speed
Two vivid memories stand out from the way Germany hosted soccer`s greatest get-together.
One is the magic of "public viewing" where soccer fans gathered around huge screens to watch the games. Locals and welcome foreigners gathered in front of these screens in nearly every German town to watch the action when they could either not afford to attend the games in person or when tickets were unavailable.
Hopefully, debate about bandwidth and download speeds for multimedia applications will be a thing of the past in SA.
Michael Rotert, president of EuroISPA
The other memory is of a much smaller group of people sitting in front of a notebook screen in the middle of a public park where they where able to watch one of the games via wireless Internet access.
Both services deal with the provision of real-time multimedia content, one on a fixed local base and the other on a global multinational basis. Let me look into the future and the role the Internet can play in these environments.
Four years from now there will definitely be many new technologies and services available globally judging by the current speed of development.
Free wireless access
In many world cities, there will be free public wireless access within trains, airplanes and perhaps even within buses. Soccer World Cup guests in SA will probably not have to worry about vouchers or costs to access the Internet via their notebook, MDA-device, mobile phone or even via their camera because WLAN access could well be public and free in four years time.
For those 2010 guests who won`t be able to travel with one of the above devices, numerous Internet cafes will be available. Hopefully, debate about bandwidth and download speeds for multimedia applications will be a thing of the past in SA.
Most of what I have referred to exists in at least some parts of the world already and it would certainly be a good idea for the organisers to have at least free public WLAN access during the 2010 games.
There are also developments in this area which can bring "real local-based services" via hotspots down to the user and this will be more than just using one of the already existing maps with local information from large providers.
Examples could be Webcams focused on the queues in front of stadiums or on the availability of parking spaces. Of course there has to be a certain minimum network speed or bandwidth for these services but this is rather something for regulatory authorities and not only a question of technology.
It would have been wonderful if Germany could have had this kind of wireless environment when we hosted the Soccer World Cup. There certainly is an opportunity for SA`s World Cup organisers to provide all these services in 2010 - and the global community will love you for it!
You will discover at iWeek that I am not being unrealistic suggesting that the services I describe can indeed be available in four years time.
* Professor Michael Rotert is president of EuroISPA.
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