Connecting the Games

With 4 billion TV viewers around the world and 16 million people watching on big screens across the UK, this has been the most connected Game ever. And it’s all been underpinned by one network.

The London 2012 network went live way back in April 2010. And long before that we had to design the communications infrastructure itself, which is basically the size of a large town.

In the lead up to the spectacular Opening Ceremony, there were 42 live test events as part of the London Prepares series, the official London 2012 sports testing programme.

Among the various technical challenges, the London 2012 website had to be engineered to withstand as much as one billion visits and 12 billion page views during the Games.

During the event itself, the network was managed from the London 2012 Technology Operation Centre (TOC) in Canary Wharf where over 90 BT people worked 12-hour shifts, with changeovers timed to avoid busy periods when events are taking place.

It’s just a shame there are no medals handed out for planning and engineering!