Great events such as the FIFA World Cup or Olympics Games can change entire cities, even countries. Older experiences have shown internal positive impacts. And Brazil wants to seize this opportunity. “Big events act as a catalyst for new technologies and ICT innovation,” said João Moura, president at Telcomp, during “ICT for World Cup and Olympic Games” event, sponsored by Informa Telecoms & Media.
The government estimates that the 2014 World Cup will add in its gross national product (GNP) R$ 183 million (around US $178 million) until 2019. Artur Coimbra de Oliveira, director of broadband department from Ministry of Communications (Minicom), enumerated some legacy impacts that will be great for Brazil: the enhancement and optimization of international gate links, construction of a data center in Fortaleza (north of Brazil), fiber optic in metropolitan areas, increase in broadband speed and capacity, 4G wireless service and local content production.
However, several ICT specialists are worried that ICT infrastructure of stadiums could outsourced, under an arrangement that would have a company deploy a container with everything that is needed to support the event that they could pull out once the event ends. This would fit the Federation de Interntionale Football Association (FIFA) requirements, but may not be good for country development, since it would be short term. “We need to be aware and work to not allow that organizers just contract containers to support demand,” said Moura, from Telcomp.
Another question is how country will use the whole infrastructure built for the World Cup, not only telecommunications. What will happen to stadiums in some locations, for example, that aren´t as popular as São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. “If there is not an event every three days, arenas will be prejudiced,” said João Gilberto Vaz, president of the Brazilian Associations of Multiuse Arenas Operators (Abrarenas).
Five of the 12 stadiums are partnership between public and private sector initiatives. Vaz believes that´s the best business model in terms of legacy, since it’s a long term agreement and the company responsible for the stadium will be able to get some return on investment. “However, winners from many auctions are companies that presented lower costs. Miracles are impossible, so we need to check what kind of ICT equipment they are using,” said Vaz, who is also vice-president for Arena, which is building stadiums in the cities of Salvador and Natal.
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