The FIFA World Cup’s opening ceremony at Al Bayt Stadium saw a mobile data traffic global record of 36TB, according to Qatar 2022 partner Ooredoo.
The telecom tech supplier said 5G speeds crossed a peak of 2Gbps, while 620,000 voice calls were made during the event with voice call accessibility greater than 99.8% and a VoLTE call drop rate of just 0.12%.
Ooredoo said a team of experts on the ground monitored networks and operations from hours before the event and beyond the final whistle of the first match, to ensure seamless service.
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulla Al Thani, chief executive at Ooredoo, said: “The opening ceremony of this momentous tournament could not have gone better, both for Qatar and for Ooredoo. Our years of preparation and significant investment in technology meant we were more than ready to step up and deliver; to our visiting fans, to our Qatari citizens and residents, and to those integral to operations.”
FIFA has introduced its new FIFA+ Stadium Experience, designed to revolutionise how fans enjoy games in arenas.
Available on the FIFA+ app for fans attending the match in the stadium, the function allows FIFA+ users to experience the action with a live augmented reality overlay of stats, heatmaps, insights, different camera angles and VAR replays as on TV.
FIFA said: “The all-new viewing experience is designed specifically to complement and enhance how those in the ground celebrate and support.”
FIFA partner Visa is trialling a number of payment technologies during the World Cup.
Its Pay with Your Face service, which is being used for payments in Qatar for the first time, incorporates facial recognition technology and is a collaboration between Qatar National Bank (QNB) and POP ID and supported by Visa via tokenisation. The solution allows customers to authenticate payments using just their face, without a physical card or mobile phone after initial enrolment. It will be piloted at three Flat White Specialty Coffee branches.
Visa has installed 5,300 contactless-enabled payment terminals at official FIFA venues, which it said makes Qatar 2022 the most payment-enabled FIFA tournament ever.
Bridgestone Arena, the home of the NHL’s Nashville Predators, is to become the city’s first sports and entertainment venue to feature Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One.
The Twice Daily convenience store will open this Friday when the Predators host the Colorado Avalanche. A second store powered by Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One is planned to open at Bridgestone Arena in early 2023.
“We are excited to be collaborating with Amazon and Twice Daily to add this new technology to Bridgestone Arena,” said Dave Urso, Nashville Predators & Bridgestone Arena senior vice president of operations. “This new technology will offer added convenience, and quicker transactions at our Twice Daily stores allowing fans to spend more time watching their event and less time standing in line.”
