Written by Karen | 12/04/12 23:00
Fluidata Olympic Countdown - 105 days to go. The Olympics is affecting business’s up and down the county in myriad ways; from those directly working on the planning and logistics, to London retailers likely to capitalise on increase in footfall. As a London based business, and a telecommunications provider, Fluidata are also witnessing many consequences of the games imminent arrival to the capital.
Disruption: Many fibre provisions in London have been severely disputed, starting from as early as last autumn. An embargo on all planned street work, affecting key parts of the London Olympic Route Network (ORN) , was implemented on 1st March 2012, and will run till the 30
th of September. Fibre orders across London will also likely see delays after this date - as carriers begin attempting to clear the back log of work. Needless to say, these disruptions have impacted on Fluidata’s ability to deliver a number of planned provisions, however with a strong
DSL portfolio at our disposal we have also seen growth in ‘
leased line alternative’ orders, as companies plunge for temporary next best solutions.
Demand: Increase in demand for connectivity solutions has been witnessed in London. A number of luxury hotel chains have invested in improved connectivity during the games - expecting both an increase in custom and user demand to view the games from laptop and mobile device.
Travel: With travel in London likely to be severely disputed, we also witnessing organisations looking for remote working solutions – such as reliable home connectivity,
3G connectivity and companywide voice and video provisions. Of course with more people working from home, upstream in the office also needs to improve, once more resulting in increased demand for improved connectivity. Those companies who are expecting a full complement of staff in the office, are also considering improvements or modifications to their connectivity. As Fluidata has demonstrated in previous months, more and more employees use work internet for viewing events like Wimbledon. The Olympics will be no different and IT mangers are investigating bumping up connectivity temporarily or, if they are a bit mean, locking down the likes of BBC iPlayer.
Trouble?: Many experts in our industry are expecting the UK IP infrastructure to be hit with a ‘deluge of data’ as more people watch, keep up to date, and talk about the games over connectivity devices than ever before. Fluidata have made improvements in our network , and though we expect more traffic than ever before , we are confident of coping with the demands and showcasing our network as one of the best in the industry. How everyone else copes remains to be seen. We will not know the true impact of the games on Fluidata until after their conclusion, but thus far, it’s throwing up as many opportunities for us as it is potential challenges.