2‑15

2 Telecommunication Radio Broadcast

Enhancement of Mobile Communication
Environment for Spectators
KUROMIYA Takayuki

SAITO Wataru

With the increase in the number of cell phone users and the spread of information provision services via smartphones we
had concerns about cell phone congestion and slow communication speeds in and around venues during the Tokyo 2020
Olympic and Paralympic Games We promoted two measures to improve the mobile communication environment to
reduce those concerns One is the deployment and enhancement of mobile communication networks by mobile network
operators and the other is the development of the Wi‑Fi communication environment by facility owners themselves This
article summarizes the activities for these two measures especially the efforts for the permanent facilities and the result
Keywords：Cellular phone Mobile communication 5G Wi‑Fi for spectators Legacy

1．Introduction

mpic Games Tokyo 2020 (hereafter

Tokyo 2020

Games)The importance of high‑speed data communications

Although the Tokyo 2020 Games were eventually held

on mobile devices like smartphones has increased with

with almost no spectators the Organising Committee

each Olympic and Paralympic Games and those commu-

initially had expected 8 million spectators and needed tonications have evolved to be an essential infrastructure

provide a comfortable mobile communication environ-for spectators and the Games stakeholders For exam-

ment for potential users like 200 000 volunteers andple it has become commonplace for spectators to shareother people involved in the Games We planned to(upload) videos and images of their experience throughdeploy and enhance cell phone and Wi‑Fi communication

SNS applications

facilities in the spectator seating areas and concourses at

not just view (download) video

replays and other moving images

the venues by asking mobile network operators andHowever so far in Japan cell phones often cannot

venue facility owners to obtain their understanding andmake a connection in a venue of a large‑scale competi-

cooperation as shown in Figure 1 And the communica-tion or event while mobile device use is increasing year

tion environment especially for cell phones has becomeby year Therefore we saw it should be critical toan essential infrastructure for Tokyo 2020 Games andimprove the communication environment where we canalso society as a whole Therefore we believed that it isuse mobile phones and mobile devices comfortably in andcrucial to keep providing comfortable facilities byaround the Games venues for the Olympic and Paraly-

developing a communications infrastructure not only
during the Games but also after the Games and it will
ultimately lead to an increase in the attractiveness of

KUROMIYA Takayuki
Technology Services Bureau The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic
and Paralympic GamesSAITO Wataru
Technology Services Bureau The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic
and Paralympic GamesThe Journal of The Institute of Electronics Information and Communication Engineers Vol 105 No 8 Supplement pp 110‑115 August 2022
© 2022 The Institute of Electronics Information and Communication Engineers

110

each competition venue Based on this idea the projecttargeted the spectator areas of 43 competition venues
the Athletes Village and some areas of the International
Broadcast Centre (IBC) Main Press Centre (MPC)(Table 1)

THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERSAs it turned out there were almost no opportunities tofor legacy use after the Games have generally beenuse mobile communication facilities at spectator areas indeveloped as planned and some test use before thethe Tokyo 2020 Games due to the policy of non‑spectator

Games has been conducted The following is a brief

for the Games On the other hand permanent facilities

history and status of the fulfillment

2．Cell Phone Network Development
21

Mobile Operators Olympic Group and Guidelines

In July 2016 the Organising Committee establishedthe Mobile Operators Olympic Group (MOOG) with four
mobile network operators (NTT docomo

KDDI

SoftBank and UQ Communications) to develop the cell
phone communication environment for the Games Afterthat Rakuten Mobile Inc joined MOOG in 2018 (Figure2)
Based on repeated discussions with these mobile
network operators that provided communication services using their communication facilities we released the
Figure 1 Request for Cooperation to the Mobile Network
Operators and Facility Owners
The Organising Committee
requested cooperation in the development and enhancement of cell
phone and Wi‑Fi communication facilities after coordinating theroles of each party“Guidelines for the Improvement of the Mobile Phone
Communication Environment for the Tokyo 2020
Olympic and Paralympic Games” (hereafter

Guide-

lines) on November 8 2017 In the Guidelines thefollowing points were discussed and agreed upon :In the cell phone communication environment in and

Table 1

Target Areas for Cell Phone and Wi‑Fi Facilities
Deployment and Enhancement

Public cell phone

Wi‑Fi for spectators

around the venues

Competition
venuesAthletes Village
IBC/MPC･Spectator area

Residential andbusiness areas･

Spectator Area

Only for related
stakeholders

20% of users will need to be connected even if
they make voice calls concurrently
100% of data communication will need to beconnected and users can comfortably enjoy somecontent like video except during times of congestion

Figure 2 Structure of the Mobile Operators Olympic Group (MOOG)
The Organising Committee and mobile
network operators launched MOOG in 2016 to promote the development plan for the cell phone communication
environment

Special Issue : Technology and Innovation in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020111

Table 2

To achieve these goals each mobile network operator
needed to take measures for the “dead zone” and the“congestion”

TimeSpectator area

Route to the venue

Summer 2020

All competition venues
except Izu MTB course

Several venues

Summer 2021

All venues

About half venues

They considered installing antennas insome areas for spectators where signal reception was
too poor to connect cell phones to reduce the number ofdead zones and also considered installing additional

Status of 5G Service Area Deployment

antennas in areas where many spectators would use
their mobile devices simultaneously to avoid unavailability even if congestions had occurred

Inevitably

MOOGʼs subsequent activities shifted to the steady
implementation of such installation and expansion at thetarget venues

created some leeway in terms of the construction period
even though the actual construction could not begin
Moreoverwe had to consider measures against

coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) infection to start
the construction in 2021 resulting in another round of

22

Activities and Achievements for the Installation

adjustments

When the mobile network operators installed commu-

Nevertheless the mobile network operators recog-

nication facilities it was necessary to lease space fornized the necessity and goal of adding permanent mobile

base station equipment and antennas from the facility

communication facilities at each venue and followed theowners and receive power supply

They had to

Guidelines

In the end

about 4 700 antennas werecoordinate with the department in charge of the venue

installed/added as legacy facilities in total accounting

development of the Organising Committee in the case offor more than 90% of the initial development plan

temporary facilities and with the facility owners of the(including temporary facilities) and they are still invenues such as stadiums in the case of permanent

operation after the Gamesfacilities These activities started in full swing in 2018
The Organising Committee requested the owners of

23

Fifth‑Generation Mobile Communication System (5G)

each facility to understand and cooperate with additional
facilities for the Games and compiled plans for the

5G commercial services started in some areas in Japandevelopment of facilities by mobile network operators

in March 2020 Regarding the competition venues for the

In reality the conditions of the facilities in the venue

Tokyo 2020 Games priority was given to the develop-

were not uniform the development plans varied byment of spectator seating areas As of summer 2020 5G

venue and mobile network operator and we have nearly

was available in the spectator seating areas of all

50 venues so we asked each mobile network operator tocompetition venues except one The postponement ofcarry out its specific coordination

the Games by one year resulted in the expansion of 5G

From the viewpoint of a venue owner coordination

coverage in urban areas which also covered some routes

with multiple mobile network operators was needed

to the venue without a specific measurement (Table 2)almost simultaneously resulting in enormous workloads

However there were almost no spectators during theto deal with those For this reason the mobile network

Games time and the use of 5G had to be limited

operators participating in MOOG consulted with each

Please refer to 4‑3 of these special issue for moreother and appointed a represented managing company

information on the innovation project using the public 5G

for each venue That company was to lead negotiation

network And please refer to 2‑5 of these special issue

and coordination with the venue which was a sort offor the local 5G demonstration (conducted at thedivisional cooperation

National Stadium) that was for the ground area not

Negotiations with the venues

howeverrequiredmore stakeholders and more time than usual as it was

sufficiently covered by the public 5G network because it
mainly covered the spectator seating area

necessary to coordinate with the venue owners thefacility management company and the venue construc-3．Spectator Wi‑Fi

tion company managers and contractors on the Organising Committee side Therefore we had to rush through31

construction from spring 2020 to just before the GamesAs of two to three years before the Games nearly 70%

for almost all venues The one‑year postponement hadof all competition venues had little or no existing Wi‑Fi

112

Requests to the Venue Facilities

THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERS

environment that spectators could use freely The only

The Organising Committee positioned “hospitality”

venues that earlier had Wi‑Fi for spectators were somethrough the “integrated development and utilization of

stadiums used for professional sports teams some event

Wi‑Fi for spectators” as an innovation measure for thevenues and the New National Stadium which had plans

Tokyo 2020 Games and has set a policy to make it ato introduce Wi‑Fi for spectators in preparation for thelegacy after the Games as a significant infrastructure forGames

a tourism‑oriented nation

In the past Games the Organising Committee had noStarting with the briefing session for the related local

experience in providing Wi‑Fi for spectators and relied

governments in October 2017 we repeatedly asked toon mobile network operatorsʼ Wi‑Fi facility development

cooperate on “the development of Wi‑Fi for spectators

plans Regarding the Tokyo 2020 Games however theby each facility owner as a legacy” Most of the new

Organising Committee believed that Wi‑Fi for specta-

development of Wi‑Fi for spectators that followed those

tors in permanent facilities and locations needed beefforts were at venues related to the Tokyo Metropolitan

implemented and used as a legacy by the venue facility

Government (TMG) which was the target of measures

owners or mobile network operators so the Organisingbased on the Tokyo Data Highway basic strategy

Committee decided to take the initiative and encourage(August 2019 https://www digitalservice metro tokyo

their cooperation of those Because we knew that there

lg jp/tokyodatahighway/index html) (Table 3)

were high expectations for Japanʼs mobile communications environment domestically and internationally and32

the opportunities for its use in future events would beTokyo‑related Venues

increasing more and more

Table 3No

Wi‑Fi Installation Plans and Achievements at

Except for a few venues we began the full‑scale

List of Venues/Status of Wi‑Fi for Spectators before the Tokyo 2020 Games

Venue

Existing
facilities

Facilities newly
installed forNo
the Games

Venue

Facilities
Existing
newly installedfacilities
for the Games

1

Tokyo Stadium─Permanent

20

Olympic Stadium

Existing─

2Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium─

Permanent

21

Ibaraki Kashima Stadium

Existing─3

Ariake Gymnastics Centre─

Temporary

22

Sapporo DomeExisting─

4

Ariake Tennis Park─

Permanent
23
and temporary 24
Permanent
25
and temporary
26
Permanent
and temporary 27
28
Permanent

Saitama Stadium

Existing─

Makuhari Messe Hall A

Existing─

Makuhari Messe Hall B

Existing─

Makuhari Messe Hall C

Existing─Sapporo Odori Park

Existing─Enoshima Yacht Harbour

Existing─and temporary 29

Izu Velodrome

Existing─Permanent
30
and temporary31
Temporary32
Temporary33
Temporary34
Temporary35
Temporary36
Temporary
37
Permanent
38
and temporary
39
Permanent
and temporary 40

Miyagi Stadium

Existing─International Stadium Yokohama

Existing─Yokohama Baseball Stadium

Existing───

Nippon Budokan

Existing─

Kokugikan Arena──

Equestrian Park──

Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach──

Saitama Super Arena

─

─

5

Oi Hockey Stadium─6

Sea Forest Waterway─

7Tokyo Aquatics Centre─

8

Tatsumi Water Polo Centre─

9Musashinonomori Park

─10

Ariake Urban Sports Park─11

Odaiba Marine Park

─12

Shiokaze Park

─

13

Aomi Urban Sports Park─14

Sea Forest Cross‑Country Course─15

Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre─

16

Yumenoshima Park Archery Field─

17

Ariake Arena─

Permanent

18

Tokyo International Forum

Existing

19

Musashino Forest Sport Plaza─

Yoyogi National Stadium

Asaka Shooting Range──

Kasumigaseki Country Club

─

─

41

Izu MTB Course

─

─

─

42

Fuji International Speedway──Permanent
and temporary

43

Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium──Special Issue : Technology and Innovation in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020113

development studies in the fall of 2019 so the coopera-

Since the implementation in the Tokyo Stadium wastion of existing operators at each venue and telecom

decided approximately six months before RWC2019 wepartners in charge of telecommunications construction

did not have enough time to design and introduce thosework for the Games was essential to complete the

Wi‑Fi facilities for spectatorsdevelopment in less than one year before the Games

expansion contract with the existing Wi‑Fi facility

The Organising Committee agreed with TMG that theprovider for the construction work to overcome the time

Organising Committee would oversee procurement andrestriction Then we encountered issues such as slow

construction Since the Wi‑Fi installation works weredisplay and screen transitions of the captive portal

needed to be carried out at the same time as thescreen during the initial phase of operation but improved

construction of the overlay facilities at the venues due tosubsequently by dividing the VLAN of access points andlimited schedules those involved in managing the workrevising those of accommodations

had a tremendously hard time coordinating and cooper-

Stadium the Wi‑Fi service for spectators was provided

ating

at all RWC2019 matches from the opening match on

We designed that each Wi‑Fi access point would
cover approximately 100 seats and provide an Internet
connection environment of at least 1 Mbit/s at aSo

we adopted an

At the Tokyo

September 20 2019 to November 1 2019 and used bymore than 10 000 spectators during those matches
The National Stadium has one of the worldʼs highest

assuming thedensity Wi‑Fi environment with one access point per 70

throughput to enable video viewing In the case ofseats in the spectator area which was available from theinstalling temporary Wi‑Fi facilities

we considered

National Stadium opening event on December 21 2019

installing those Wi‑Fi access points on temporary fences

There is a total of 1 300 access points installed for theand prefabricated roofs so that to have as little impact as

whole area including the concourse and stores

simultaneous connection rate of 30%

possible on the permanent facilities (i eto avoid theneed for repairs after removing temporary ones)

4．Conclusion

After a one‑year postponement we proceeded withconstruction coordination to install the Wi‑Fi facility in

Under the policy of promoting the development of atime for the Tokyo 2020 Games held in 2021 However

mobile communication environment we could see added

deciding on the non‑spectator policy shortly before thecell phone communication facilities to all competition

Games the facility was eventually used only by a portion

venues and newly deployed Wi‑Fi for spectators atof the Olympic family and supporting athletes

major TMG‑owned venues Together with some ofAs permanent facilities a total of more than 1 000

those professional sports teams that already had Wi‑Fi

access points were installed at 11 of the 19 venues owned

for spectators we planned to provide a comfortable

by TMG (1‑19 in Table 3) and provided the public

mobile communications environment for many specta-

wireless LAN service “Tokyo Free Wi‑Fi” (https://

tors However it is regrettable that I cannot describe

www wifi‑tokyo jp/en/) and other services

the actual performance of these facilities here because it
was seldom used in practice due to the policy of a non‑

33

Usage of the Newly Installed and Expanded Wi‑
Fi before the Games

spectator for the GamesIn the meanwhile we can regard it as an achievement

Of the stadiums that were installed Wi‑Fi forof the Tokyo 2020 Games that we enhanced legacy

spectators in preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Gamesfacilities to a certain level and demonstrated anonly the Tokyo Stadium and the National Stadium had

advanced project model in which companies normally

actual usage records before the Games

compete cooperated for the improvement of legacy

The Tokyo Stadium was the main venue for the 2019facilities as MOOG

Rugby World Cup (RWC2019) and the competition

In the area of Wi‑Fi while promoting the develop-

venue for the Tokyo 2020 Games so the stadium had

ment of Wi‑Fi for spectators I should also note that the

begun preparing for Wi‑Fi in time for the RWC2019

Organising Committee had to work in the opposite

ahead of the activities described in 3 2 The Organising

direction of expansion and installation

Committee was in charge of managing the construction

shutting down existing Wi‑Fi access points temporarilyof the Wi‑Fi facilities at this Tokyo Stadium as well sincein the venue or changing their frequencies to avoid

the main target was to use it at the Tokyo 2020 Games

channel interference with Wi‑Fi for competition meas-

114

That wasTHE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERS

urement or the Games management by the stakeholders

some activities by the Organising Committee to protect

in those stadiums

the Wi‑Fi frequencies used by the Games like monitor-

Although the positions and usages of Wi‑Fi communi-

ing and stopping unauthorized use

cations would be changing with the arrival of the 5G era
it will take a reasonable amount of time for replacedcompletely with 5G because there is assumed to remaina specific demand for offloading mobile data communications We believe that these efforts in preparation for the
Tokyo 2020 Games are part of the foundation that will
support a turning point in the mobile communications
environment in Japan
We expect that new next‑generation technologies will
spreadtothetelecommunications

infrastructure

through these world‑class events in the future Whencollaborative efforts among mobile network operators
through a framework such as MOOG can accelerate thedevelopment of such technologies and lead to further
enhancement of the mobile communications environment in Japan I believe this can be called as one of the“legacies” of the Tokyo 2020 Games
Please refer to 2‑12 of these special issue for more

(Received February 28 2022 ; Revised March 15 2022)

KUROMIYA Takayuki
Mr Kuromiya received his M S in Information Science and Technology from Tohoku
University in 1998 and joined Nippon Telegraphand Telephone Corporation (NTT) in the same
year Since then he has been engaged mainly in
the implementation and operation of a dedicated global network for manufacturing enterprises In January 2015 he was seconded to theTokyo 2020 Organising Committee as the
Director of Telecom Business Promotion
Technology Services Bureau
SAITO Wataru
Mr Saito graduated from the Graduate
School of Engineering The University of Tokyo(M S 1993) and the Graduate School ofBusiness Carnegie Mellon University (MBA2001) He has been seconded by NTT to theTokyo 2020 Organising Committee since 2018as the Director of ICT solutions Department
Technology Services Bureau (Executive Officer Sogo Security Services Co Ltd )information on the policies for the use of the 2 4 GHz and
5 GHz bands for Wi‑Fi use during the Games as well as㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇

Special Issue : Technology and Innovation in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020115