ENGLEWOOD, Colo. and SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 1 -- Four million feet of individual fiber strands and 264,000 feet of coaxial cable spanning an more than 1,000 square miles will connect about 7,800 television sets to the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City this week.
As the "official broadband provider" of the Games, AT&T Broadband has invested millions of dollars and thousands of hours to build this network over several years in order to provide dedicated "closed circuit" distribution of live Olympic events to 11 competition venues, 14 noncompetition venues and public areas including Downtown Park City and the Olympic Village.
And where there's a network, there are network technicians: Sixty AT&T Broadband technicians will maintain the network around the clock during the Winter Games. Thirty-six technicians from AT&T Broadband markets around the country will travel to the Games to join another 24 technicians and support staff from the Salt Lake City area. All told, more than 350 specialists from AT&T Network Services, AT&T Broadband and AT&T Wireless will be onsite in Salt Lake City to ensure that these networks are operating at peak performance throughout the Games. This staff will provide support at venue help desks, switching centers and a telecommunications command center.
AT&T Broadband’s parent company, AT&T, is a key sponsor of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and the exclusive host for the official U.S. Olympic Team web site, www.usolympicteam.com.