Case History 2002 FIFA World Cup

Avaya's Technology Connects 2002 FIFA World Cup™ to the World

For immediate release: 31-Dec-2002

When the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup™ Association wanted a network for the 2002 FIFA World Cup to give officials, reporters and volunteers instantaneous access to scores, statistics, player comments, real-time coverage of the games, as well as a host of systems to manage games logistics, it turned to Avaya Inc., and named the company its first official "convergence communication provider."

The network, designed specifically for the FIFA World Cup to be held this June in Korea and Japan, marks the first time FIFA is using voice over IP (VoIP) at an event. It's also the first time a communications network is supporting simultaneous FIFA World Cup matches in two countries. In addition, the converged network is among the world's largest, featuring:

40,000 connections between 20 stadiums, two international media centers and two headquarters in Korea and Japan
More than 10,000 data and communications devices online
3,100 miles (about 5,000 km) of Avaya SYSTIMAX® Structured Cabling
200 Access Point Routers
5,000 Avaya™ Wireless portfolio local area network PC cards and more than 200 Avaya Wireless LAN Access Points
150 separate wide area network (WAN) connections
More than 100 Avaya Cajun™ family of data networking switches
25 Avaya Internet Protocol (IP) communications systems with 7,000 endpoints
22 DEFINITY® G3 SI Enterprise Communications Servers (ECS)

The Avaya network is handling FIFA World Cup systems for scheduling games and notifying teams, reviewing and accrediting participants, collating and reporting game results, tracking materials inventory, scheduling and confirming accommodations and transportation, and tracking and maintaining security systems.

The first test of the network last year, when it was used to group and schedule teams at the Final Draw event, demonstrated flawless performance. The second significant test took place in April this year, when the accreditation center and International Media and Broadcasting Center (IMC) were tested. On May 15, the network was turned over — on time and under budget — to meet FIFA's deadline, as required.

"Each communication and computer hookup within the network was a test of our expertise," said Mark Leigh, president, Avaya Asia Pacific. "We were confident from the start that Avaya would deliver on its promise to make the 2002 FIFA World Cup a technology benchmark for future world-class sporting events."

With intense worldwide interest in the games, Leigh said flawless network performance was always paramount to Avaya and everyone else associated with the FIFA World Cup. The company's state-of-the-art communication solutions are 99.99% accurate.

Such reliability is a hallmark of Avaya networks. This is why more than 90 percent of all Fortune 500® companies and most U.S. government organizations rely on the company for secure network infrastructures.

"Under the banner of 'Communications Power Your Company,'" said Leigh, "we've long led the industry in reliable voice and data applications that power faster decisions, more profitable transactions, and closer relationships among customers, employees and suppliers.

"For the FIFA World Cup, this is the first time a network has had to cross seas and deliver support in two countries. But we knew our solutions were up to the challenge, because we've been providing world-class voice and data networks for years. This was one more fabulous opportunity to showcase our technology."

Real-Time Reporting
The 2002 event is the first-ever FIFA World Cup at which reporters will use wireless local area network (LAN) technology to access the Internet via laptop PCs, no matter where they are. They can send and receive text and picture files while watching a game in the stands, for instance, then forward their story and artwork to editors in their home cities, making deadlines far less onerous, especially given the time changes. Avaya has provided wireless LANs in both major media centers, as well as in all FIFA remote headquarters facilities in Seoul and Tokyo.

Perhaps the most unique feature of the network is Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology for long distance calls and some local calls through the WAN.

"An Avaya DEFINITY® IP-enabled communications server will be used in every stadium in Japan to support VoIP," said Doug Gardner, Avaya Asia-Pacific regional manager. "We're also providing IP soft phones and hard phones."

The IP soft phones work through PC software over wired or wireless connections. The hard phones operate just like regular wired desktop phones.

To assure compatibility and reliability of the different systems, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are important to regulating network access. Avaya is providing several VPNs within the network for different user groups. Also, since two countries will host the finals, new SYSTIMAX GigaSPEED® cabling and optical fiber has been installed, along with Avaya Cajun™ backbone data switches, to assure cross-border communications always work flawlessly.

In addition, Avaya has structured the network for inter-working with Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) protocol systems, so voice and data transmissions coexist seamlessly. This was accomplished via Avaya's PacketStar® family of multiservice media gateways, which aggregate broadband access for all types of converged services, including Internet, voice, data and even video communications.

The PacketStar family provides one platform to support frame relay and time division multiplexing, as well as ATM, within wide-area networks (WANs). For the FIFA network, Avaya configured its PacketStar gateway systems to work with both Korea's KT and Japan's NTT network services for fully optimized bandwidth utilization.

The Services Behind the Service
In addition to the thousands of hardware and software products that make up the FIFA World Cup network, Avaya is delivering an equally monumental level of onsite services, including deployment, maintenance and management of all data systems that carry the principal applications in both countries.

Avaya Services experts from around the world — teamed with the company's BusinessPartners in Japan and Korea — have staged, integrated, and installed the network to FIFA specifications. They are also responsible for accurately managing a series of Cajun backbone switches and servers, as well as all wireless Access Point servers and specially installed firewalls for security.

During the games, Avaya will provide Network Management Services from central locations in Japan and Korea and after-hours coverage from Avaya's Global Remote Network Management Services group in the U.S. and Singapore. Avaya Business Partners and the company's Global Support Organization will provide all maintenance support under the direction of the Avaya Network Operations Centers at the FIFA Media Centers. Due to the significant scope and importance of the project, Avaya will also deploy resources from the U.S. and other countries to manage the effort. Overall, more than 100 support personnel will be engaged.

A Sprint to the Finish
Even with all the myriad service and system compatibility issues inherent in delivering this one-of-a-kind network, Gardner said the work has been exciting. "While the commercial challenge has been significant," he noted, "the complexity of the project has also made finding the right solution that much more gratifying."

The milestones for Avaya have paralleled those of the FIFA World Cup teams as they sprint toward the finals next month. The first critical milestone was opening the accreditation centers for reporters and volunteers in April, including full testing of the International Media and Broadcasting Centers. The final critical milestone was "going live" with the network in mid-May at all venues — in time for the 64 final competition matches that begin on the last day of the month. As an official sponsor, Avaya's mission was to deliver a high-performance, high-reliability network for the games, especially since the company is also a sponsor of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2003 to be hosted by China PR, and the 2006 FIFA World Cup to be hosted by Germany.

"Avaya is looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with world soccer," Gardner said.

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