Avaya Unveils Technology Firsts at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games

SOCHI, RUSSIA--(Marketwired - Feb 11, 2014) -

• Avaya network infrastructure powers the largest BYOD Olympics
• First Winter Olympic Games to deploy a virtualized service network, based on Avaya Fabric Connect for speed, simplicity and reliability
• First Olympic Games to leverage IP multicast to deliver 36 HD TV video channels retransmitting live coverage to all major Olympic Family venues.

Athletes, fans, media, officials and volunteers have descended on Sochi, where organizers anticipate the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games to be the most connected Olympic Winter Games in history. As the Official Supplier of Network Equipment to Sochi 2014, Avaya is providing a full communications experience to more than 40,000 Olympic Family members while interconnecting 11 competition venues, three Olympic Villages, Media Centers, Celebration Centers, Data Centers and Technology Operating Centers.

This is expected to be the largest Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Olympics, and the Avaya network will support an anticipated 120,000 mobile devices at any given time. Fueling the demand for wireless connectivity is the fact that for the first time in Olympic Games history, all accredited media will have free access to high speed WiFi services. The Avaya network will provide fast and secure connectivity for mobile devices based on the user's log-in credentials.

This is also the first Winter Games to leverage network virtualization -- helping the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee to raise the bar in terms of simplicity, reliability and speed. The Avaya Fabric Connect technology has enabled the design and deployment of the Sochi Olympic network within a short timeframe and will also help deliver faster resolution to any issues that might occur. The agility of this technology makes it a formidable tool to manage to the ever-changing, dynamic Olympic Games environment -- enabling any last minute move or change request to be completed quickly and without risk. The Avaya solution can also easily accommodate sudden spikes in network capacity -- which are common for high profile competition events. 

Sochi will also deploy Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) technology to distribute 36 HD video channels to each Olympic venue. Due to the unique ability of the Avaya Fabric Connect technology to distribute video with increased reliability and scale over traditional networking technologies, the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee was able to save money and simplify operations by being able to leverage a common network for voice, data and IPTV services.

A Glance at the Numbers:

• 18 months to deploy the network from beginning to end
• 21 shift-based operational staff and 19 expert support staff will oversee operation of the network, 24/7
• Sochi volunteers and officials will utilize 6,500 IP phones
• 2,500 Wireless access points will be dispersed throughout the venues
• Multicast capabilities on the Fabric Connect network will support 36 simultaneous HD IPTV channels
• 1-2 terabytes of data will be used per day
• Traditional networking technologies generally take a few seconds for recovery; but for example the Avaya Fabric Connect backbone can recover within 20 milliseconds of an outage or issue

Quotes:

"From end-to-end, Sochi requires a sophisticated and efficient network to deliver accuracy at the Games -- whether a scorekeeper is booking accurate time, an athlete beats a record by a 10^th of a second or a reporter must upload a critical video file. Every time the Olympic Family sends a video stream or an image, a tweet or a Facebook post, they will need a robust, fast, modern and highly resilient network infrastructure. That's what we provide to Sochi. Avaya's technology powers simple, resilient, agile communications for small businesses up to the largest enterprises, making us the ideal network partner for the Sochi Olympic Winter Games."
Pierre-Paul Allard, senior vice president, Worldwide Sales and president, Global Field Operations, Avaya

About Avaya:
Avaya is a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions, providing unified communications, contact centers, networking and related services to companies of all sizes around the world. For more information please visit www.avaya.com/ru.