It’s no secret that the Internet is everywhere, all the time. This will be all the more true during the matches of the 2023 Rugby World Cup which will be played in Bordeaux at the Matmut stadium in September. It has been two weeks since around fifteen Orange technicians have been working to roll out 6.5 km of fiber linking 30 delivery points and 70 WiFi terminals with the aim of obtaining a “speed 100 times more powerful during this period than in a classic Top 14 match”, explains Christophe Larbere, Orange manager.
This is only the connectivity related to the services inherent to the World Cup: in other words, the administrative management, the media coverage (television, online media) and all the staff of the teams. The stakes are high: “We can’t afford to have a single second off. “As for the facilities, they are destined to last since a part is expected to remain in anticipation of the 2024 Olympic Games.
A real “challenge”
What does this actually consist of? Example in concussion rooms. “Doctors will be able to access images in real time and more quickly assess the severity of the shock before examining the player, explains Damien Lataste, also a member of the Orange team. However, if he had watched the match on television, there would have been a delay. Our work makes it possible to recover the images directly at the exit of the control vans. »
Another novelty linked to the world sporting event, the “Coach boxes”: from the stands, the team staff will have real-time access to all the statistics of the players, their movements, actions, images of the choices of the keys… Better still , instant video of the match will be delivered to the locker room, where Orange has been asked that this information can also arrive.
For the teams in competition, it is the possibility of reworking the tactical choices including during half-time. “It’s a real challenge to allow everyone to have quick access to information with quality image feedback”, knows Christophe Larbere. Everything must be operational by Thursday September 7, before Ireland-Romania on Saturday September 9, at 3:30 p.m.
