As the opening ceremony marked the beginning of the Beijing Olympics on August 8, China Netcom, the fixed-line telecommunication partner of the Games, registered its own achievements in support of the Olympic Games.

The categories, scope, scale and quality of the services were superior to those used in all the previous opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games.

About 4 billion people from more than 200 countries and regions watched the opening ceremony on TV. China Netcom transmitted all the television signals by using high definition technologies.

A number of journalists from news agencies, broadcasting companies and print media all over the world sent the news on the opening ceremony to the world by using the W-CDMA, private lines and VPN.

The visits to the authorized broadcast websites were six times higher than other times, and even reached 10 times in the peak time. The "Broadband Olympics" has been integrated into people's lives.

The communications needs of the opening ceremony were huge, requiring a complex and effective system in which China Netcom had provided telecommunication management service and network control service to guarantee the precise operation of the system.

Thanks to the voice and numerical control systems provided by China Netcom, the 29 "footprints" formed by fireworks could "walk" into the stadium exactly along the axle wire to the National Stadium (Bird's Nest) in northern part of the Chinese capital from Yongdingmen, a historic site at the south second ring road of Beijing.

(China Daily August 15, 2008)