THE modern Olympic Games have left a trail of glittering sports stadiums and other structures around the globe since their inception. At next summer's event in Atlanta, Georgia, a new sort of legacy will be passed on after the competitors have gone home one that may be just as important as the grandiose new Olympic Village itself an ultramodern telecommunications system.
As cranes and construction crews erect new facilities above ground, an invisible transformation is taking place beneath Atlanta's streets and along its airways.
Atlanta is set to become one of the best wired cities in the world for multimedia communications an accomplishment the city believes should continue to attract businesses to the area long after the Olympic banners are put away.
"The Olympics is already worth about 10,000 jobs a year, and the new technological infrastructure will continue to fuel economic growth through the end of the century," predicts Donald Ratajczak, director of the economic forecasting centre at Georgia State University.
Private sector
Until now, the main focus of an Olympic host city has been on building the required physical infrastructure, and what to do with it after the Games are over. Yet in Atlanta, government officials are equally concerned with the technological preparations.
The private sector is investing heavily in communications technology in the city. The local Bell South telephone company is putting $50 million (IR£31 million) into wired communications, and over 50 per cent more - $77 million - into wireless. AT&T has a $40-million supply contract with the Atlanta Committee for the Games.
"The 1996 Olympics coincides with a worldwide telecommunications revolution that encompasses cable television, the Internet and fibre optics," says Paul Harman, director of the 1996 Olympics programme at Bell South. "That's why we're seeing, such an emphasis this time.
Network rings
Cutting edge wireless technology will probably be an important legacy of the Games. "Wireless is coming into its own," says Terry Suttles, Olympic marketing manager of AT&T Network Systems. "On one hand, the Olympics are a great showcase for the new technology. On the other, people will be coming to the Olympics loaded up with computers, cellular telephones and other equipment they expect to use without hitches. The city has to be ready for that influx."
As a result, the two way paging system and cellular telephone capacity will be doubled. Although some of that capability will be transferred to other cities after the Olympics, most of it will be left in place. Bell South is also installing sophisticated multiplex equipment, which expands existing data lines' carrying capacity three times.
Forty synchronous optical network rings (which automatically reroute calls in case of a break in one communications line) will also be put in place.
Among Bell South's services during the Olympics will be its Crisislink, which reroutes calls if customers are unable to answer on their usual phone line. For example, if traffic congestion prevents customers reaching their office, calls can be rerouted to their home or to another branch.
Desktop broadcasts
Motorola is designing a secure radio system for Olympics security personnel to use during the Games. Radio conversations - either scrambled or unscrambled - will be extremely difficult for outsiders to eavesdrop on. Motorola is also negotiating to sell the system to Georgia's state police at a discount after the Games.
"The Games in Los Angeles (in 1984) were spread out over a couple of hundred miles, but most of the venues in Atlanta are concentrated within about a 3 1/2 mile radius," says Mark Moon, its director of technology. And because the general public uses a large chunk of the radio frequencies, Motorola was left with a small number of frequencies to use.
"Reliable two way radio communications capability for us is particularly valuable prior to the Olympic Games when we're processing athletes arrivals, dealing with housing teams, routing equipment and co ordinating briefings and meals," Moon says.
Smaller companies look set to benefit from the Olympics' communications advances as well. Panther, a television content provider for magazine shows and educational broadcasts, will act as host for many of the NBC network stations during the competitions.
"We've now got fibre running down the street outside, and all the facilities will be hooked to fibre," says Jack English, the company's president. "That will allow us to just send video directly to networks rather than purchase satellite capability or send up a video. We'll be practising desktop broadcasting."
The icing on the cake for the city, however, will be telecommunications facilities being constructed under the pavement and along the "Deep South" airways. Economists are predicting that the advances will have a long term impact on the city's capacity to attract jobs.
"After the Olympics, you'll be able to put Atlanta up against any city in the world for sophistication of its communications infrastructure," Ratajczak says. "That's a pretty powerful pull for any company deciding where to do business these days."