After Pyeongchang won the title of most high-tech Olympics ever, Beijing will become the second host city aiming at making an even smarter Olympic Games in 2022, with a 5G network that has been under construction at the three major Olympics venues.

The 5G network construction for the three major Olympics venues – the National Speed Skating Hall, or the “Ice Belt”; the National Stadium, or the “Bird's Nest”; and the National Aquatic Center, or “Water Cube” – will be basically completed by the end of this year, Wu Xiaonan, a senior officer at the construction company revealed at a press conference on August 8.

Ice Belt

Water Cube

Bird's Nest

The company signed contracts with China Unicom at the conference and Wu said contracts with the other two major telecom operators, China Mobile and China Telecom, will follow.

“Based on 5G technology, the three venues will provide a better experience for different groups in terms of reporting on games, participating in games, and watching games,” Wu said.

Apart from common technologies like face identification, indoor temperature control, and new ways of broadcasting the games, 5G will be used in other scenarios, too.

A more accurate guidance system will bused in the three venues, which will make a seamless connection between outdoor mobile navigation and indoor navigation.

“That means everybody can precisely search for the best path from their home to the stadium and down to their very seat in the stadiums,” Wu said.

Beyond the Olympics, Beijing aims to explore a smart solution for future stadiums, creating an example or an experience center based on high technology like AI and VR, which will also help promote the sustainable operation of the Olympic stadiums.