3.3 million voice calls and 21.2 million GB of data communications were carried on mobile networks in the first 56 games of the Fifa World Cup
Dubai, UAE: July 13, 2014: While the world focuses its attention on the Football World Cup in Brazil, Comba Telecom Systems Holdings Limited, a leading global wireless solutions provider, is focusing its attention on the two million spectators attending the matches, ensuring that they have access to wireless services provided by mobile operators.
Comba Telecom was contracted by mobile operators to supply and install 2G/3G/4G LTE and Wi-Fi turnkey DAS (distributed antenna system). Offering its support across eight of the 12 stadiums with wireless solutions, Comba also ensured the availability of LTE and Wi-Fi at the Arena de Sao Paulo, the stadium that hosted the opening ceremony and opening games of the tournament.
“According to Sinditelebrasil, the association representing the Brazilian telecoms industry, 3.3 million voice calls and the equivalent of 21.2 million GB of data communications including emails, images and multimedia, were carried on the mobile networks in the first 56 games of the tournament – the majority of which were on 3G networks,” said Patrik Westfalk, managing director for the Caribbean and Latin America market of Comba.
In addition, Sinditelebrasil says data usage is accelerating as the competition progresses, with up to 8,000 photos per minute transmitted on mobile networks. Mobile traffic hit a peak earlier in the tournament, with fans making thousands of pre-game calls and exchanging hundreds of gigabytes of data to social networks and the like.
“Even with this peak, our integrated DAS handled the traffic competently and within the parameters set by our operator friends,” said Johnny Brito, general manager, Comba Brazil. “Typical user behavior at such events means there are traffic surges in voice and data just before the main event starts, with people calling to confirm their arrival at venues and, of course, updating their social network pages with selfies and status updates.”