World Cup Rush Leaves Gaps in Brazil Cell Network
This may not seem like a large issue - but with citizen and crowd sourced journalism likely to make a huge push this summer, if the people cannot get their information out, we will be left sourcing it from the msm - not an ideal situation in what promises to be the most tweeted event to this point in history.
Rio de Janeiro’s legendary Maracanã stadium was in a frenzy. Brazil had trounced the Spanish world champions. Yet 73,000 soccer fans could scarcely send a text message to celebrate.
The final of the 2013 Confederations Cup, a dress rehearsal for this year’s World Cup, was a promising 3-0 victory for Brazil’s national team but a bad omen for its cellphone network.
Despite costly investments and another year to prepare, phone companies are still struggling to provide adequate coverage of key sites for the tournament starting in June.
Several stadiums were delivered months late and work at major airports remains unfinished, forcing the telecoms industry to cut back and in some cases even cancel planned investments.
“Where we don’t have much time, we probably won’t be able to give complete coverage for the stadiums,” said Eduardo Levy, head of a Brazilian industry group tasked with preparing cellphone coverage at World Cup venues.
If the problems from last year recur, it may be hard for fans to make a phone call at a big game, let alone upload photos or peruse social media.
More: World Cup Rush Leaves Gaps in Brazil Cell Network
Coming in May - everything you need to know about the world’s largest sporting event :