The most hi-tech World Cup yet

The entire world may not be coming to the 2010 Fifa World Cup, but the event will definitely be going to them - on televisions, computers, cellphones and big screens in fan parks.

Africa's first World Cup will see a number of unprecedented technological advances in the broadcast of games - all matches will be covered in high definition, while 25 out of the 64 matches will be produced in 3D and shown at selected venues. Mobile cameras at World Cup stadiums have been equipped with software that allows tighter framing than traditional TV cameras and ensures top quality, live match coverage on cellphones.

A highly sophisticated, state-of-the-art media facility, set up at a cost of nearly R1-billion, will ensure soccer fans will be watching the same game at the same time - no matter where in the world they are.

The International Broadcast Centre in Nasrec, south of Johannesburg, will be the entry and exit point for all material coming from the 10 stadiums and going out to 204 countries.

Without this operation, there is no World Cup, according to Fifa secretary-general, Jerome Valcke. "It's from here that the world will have a chance to watch the World Cup from South Africa," he said.

Planning for the 30000m² centre goes back six years.

On Friday, the world soccer body showed off the facility to media, ahead of the June 2 official opening by Fifa president Sepp Blatter.

Around 2500 people will be based at the centre for the duration of the event, including Fifa personnel and staff from international broadcasters.

The 600 tons of equipment come from different parts of the world, as no country can provide all the equipment needed.

But it all starts back at the stadium, where up to 32 cameras - including a helicopter camera in some matches - send their visuals back to custom-designed carrier rooms operated exclusively by Telkom.

The carrier rooms - one on opposite ends of each of the 10 stadiums - have been duplicated at all the venues. In the event that one fails, the other switches on automatically without impacting on visuals at all, according to Telkom's World Cup programme director, Thami Magazi.

The video image is converted into a digital signal that Telkom can then carry to the centre via a 20Gbps fibre-optic cable - this translates into 312500 voice calls at the same time, or a full movie being downloaded in less than two seconds.

The cables run in opposite directions to separate Telkom exchanges in keeping with Fifa specifications; the system, including the fibre-optic cables, has been fitted with a detection system with temperature and pressure sensors that indicate when anything is being tampered with.

The system is monitored at Telkom's Network Operations Centre in Centurion and will pinpoint where the problem is, so technicians can fix it as soon as possible. In the "very extremely remote" event that both systems fail, the signal is sent via satellite. Once at the centre, the signal is converted back into video and the various broadcasters edit it before sending it out - this time via underwater cables or satellite, depending on the broadcaster - but the cables offer the best quality.

At the heart of the centre is the African Plaza, a studio with African décor, with all other control and production rooms placed around that.

The master control room is the distribution point for all incoming and outgoing feeds and will operate 24/7.

Local organising committee chief executive officer Danny Jordaan said: "The world must know that Africa's first World Cup was supported by the best technology and infrastructure."

The centre in numbers

1. 204 countries broadcasting;
2. 1 900km of cabling for all 10 venues;
3. 30 interview studios;
4. 55 000 hotel room nights booked for host broadcast services staff;
5. 3 000 international flights booked for host broadcast services staff; and
6. 1 400 local flights booked for Host Broadcast Services staff

• vanrooyenk@sundaytimes.co.za
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