By Xu Han
World-class and large-scale sport events will have a far higher requirement on communications facilities and services than common important events, and a sound and strong "nerve system" has become a key for the successful organization and smooth operation of any event. China Mobile Communications Corporation ("China Mobile") as the sole mobile communication cooperator for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is sparing no effort to fulfill its three solemn commitments to provide the Olympic Games with "the most advanced technology, the most abundant businesses, and the most thoughtful service".
"Mobilize" the Olympic Games
Since the mobile communication technology was widely utilized during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, to "mobilize" the Olympic Games has become people's expectation. A related principal of China Mobile stated that China Mobile would expedite to accomplish the project of network coverage in various sport venues and important locales and organize overall quality inspections over the network in the host city and other co-host cities of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games before the inauguration of the Olympic Games so as to serve the Olympic pageant with mobile communications network services of the best quality. During the course of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games, besides its routine network construction and product development, China Mobile will also have to respond to any possible emergency. In allusion to the possible sharp growth of voice traffic at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, they have begun to get prepared very early: Firstly, obtain the first-hand data about the venues for the Games; then, estimate the total amount of people to be present at the opening and closing ceremonies; in the end, conduct reasonable network configuration and develop various contingency pre-plans on basis of such data.
Moreover, China Mobile has launched products and services of 25 categories to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), media, and ordinary people, and created many "first times" in the Olympic history, including setting up the first mobile-phone official website and the first wireless information inquiry system (INFO) in the Olympic history, launching the service of immediate transmitting the just-taken picture and the talk back function for mobile phones for the first time in the Olympic history.
Display the innovative achievements
Noteworthy is the fact that TD-SCDMA (TD for short), China's third-generation mobile communication standard with independent intellectual property right, will display its charms during the Olympic Games. To practically guarantee that TD will serve the Olympics, China Mobile took new measures on serving the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with TD, such as launching with relatively large efforts campaigns to promote the purchase of mobile phones with preferential prices, preferential schemes for the fees of using mobile phones, and to promote the sale of data network cards.
China Mobile has also specially developed Olympic highlight businesses and feature businesses for the Games. They took full advantage of TD's wireless bandwidth to launch six Olympic highlight businesses such as surfing on the Internet with wireless bandwidth, Olympic mobile phone TVs, Olympic video on demand, Olympic express, Olympic multi-media colorful bells for mobile phones, and talking back with mobile phones POC, which have been officially launched in this July. TD mobile-phone subscribers can utilize the TD network to see live TV programs or download video segments via mobile phones directly; clients can receive the hotspot Olympic news concerned to them and appreciate wonderful Olympic events. Subscribers can also adopt the video telephone mode to dial the telephone number of service center directly, and order the Olympic event video program they are interested in by following voice directions given by the system.
In order to make it possible for clients to know about information concerning the Olympic Games in time and enjoy the new technologies and businesses brought by TD for the Games, combined with Olympic contents, ten businesses with Olympic features, such as mobile-phone-edition Olympic official website, radio transmission for Olympic concept, on-hand Olympic, mobile-phone newspaper about Olympics, Olympic radio music, Olympic 12580, Olympic colorful message printing, Olympic mobile-phone games, mobile-phone maps, and mobile-phone navigation, have been launched in combination with contents relevant to the Olympic Games. Through the extensive application of TD technologies and services during the Olympic Games, the connotation of "High-tech Olympics" will be better illustrated, the achievements in the development of China's independent innovations in communication technology will be fully demonstrated, and the Olympics will be made a platform to display the most advanced mobile communication technologies in China.
During the Olympic Games, China Mobile will also launch TD Olympic international cards, sell such cards to overseas tourists in card portfolio, establish preferential fees portfolio schemes, set up corresponding business counters in the airport, service centers at various Olympic venues, and major business halls in the Olympic host city and co-host cities, and make a marketing promotion to overseas visitors from the last ten days in July to September. TD Olympic international card is a kind of short-term product specially developed for the pageant, which can help oversea visitors to cut down their fees on international long-distance communications greatly and offer them a fairly preferential price for surfing on the Internet.
For the sake of making it possible for more domestic clients to utilize and experience TD during the Olympic Games and expanding TD's influence in the society continuously, China Mobile has also designed and developed TD Olympic cards, gave more preferential price in fees, and would promote the cards to the clients with mobile-phone cruise business in domestic non-TD cities during the Olympic Games. Subscribers can get TD Olympic cards in the airport, service centers at Olympic venues, and major business halls in Olympic host city and co-host cities, and the cards will be promoted to domestic subscribers with mobile-phone cruise business from July to September.
A related principal from China Mobile expressed that consumption doorsill had not been established for TD Olympic cards, the fees of surfing on the Internet were more preferential, and four additional preferential treatments would be granted upon card purchasing, including offering RMB 50 yuan in the form of communication fees as a gift, offering surf-the-Internet fees for 30M flux per month as another gift, mobile-phone newspapers about the Olympics free of charge, and Olympic souvenirs.
Provide subscribers with prime services
As introduced, China Mobile will set up service channels and systems that will meet the demand of domestic and overseas ordinary people and athletes. At present, China Mobile is further accelerating the planning and construction of its client service network and reinforcing the channel coverage in the airport service zone, major places in the downtown, and around and inside various Olympic venues, in accordance with the actual conditions in the host city and co-host cities, so as to shape up a mature and reasonably distributed subscriber service network.
Additionally, the 10086 client service hotline of China Mobile can provide overall services, such as communication fees and accumulated scores inquiry, and business consultancy and transaction. Especially, in allusion to international friends, the 10086 client service hotline provides services in nine kinds of languages, including Chinese Mandarin, English, French and Japanese, in Beijing; in Qingdao, services will be provided in Chinese Mandarin, English, Japanese and Korean; and services will be provided in Chinese Mandarin and English in other cities. Services will be provided in English around the clock in Beijing while more operators will be arranged so as to provide more circumspect service for clients. It is understood that China Mobile's mobile secretary counter 12580 will provide 24-hour services in various languages every day during the Olympic Games as well. China Mobile will also establish a service guarantee team for the Games, set up special 24-hour mobile service halls, and provide all-weather services for Olympic participants while establishing special subscriber service counters and provide on-the-spot services in the designated Olympic venues during the Olympic Games.
Olympic communication guarantee is not only a systematic project that will give a full presentation of an enterprise's comprehensive strengths but it will also test Chinese communication enterprises' awareness of responsibility. As the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games approaches, China Mobile is fulfilling its commitment with its practices.
