This first is possible after Telstra signed a USD 9 million deal with the Seven Media Group in Australia in March 2008. In Australia, the Seven Media Group owns and manages the full media rights to the 2008 Beijing Games.

BigPond already has a history of working with sports; it maintains Australia’s largest online sports portal and hosts the official websites for three of Australia’s most popular sports: the Australian Football League, the National Rugby League and the V8 Supercar Motor Racing Series.

Chris Walton, chief executive of global media network MindShare, predicted last year that the Olympic Games were “tailor-made for bite-size pieces of coverage on mobiles or laptops.” He added: “Most track and swimming events are over in 60 seconds or less, and many will take place outside of Australian prime time.”

Meanwhile, David McGrath, Group Manager of Sports at Telstra BigPond, says the deal is a perfect fit for Telstra. “Australians have always embraced sport and sporting heroes, and there is no bigger sporting event than the Olympic Games,” McGrath says. “Because of this deal, our customers can watch the Olympics outside of just the living room.”

BigPond’s mobile portal will simulcast two live-broadcast streams of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games that customers have the choice of live streaming on their mobile phones: Channel 7, which focuses on Australian sports, and SBS (Special Broadcasting Service), which focuses on world sports.

However, BigPond also provides a mobile-phone extension to the sports community, with mobile-web access to news, information and video highlights, as well as personalized content for the sports fan, like ringtones and wallpapers.

The BigPond offering also includes a series of features to make this Olympic Games the most accessible ever, such as highlights from all days of competition, text-message alerts for key Australian gold-medal moments, Australian world records and “Can’t Miss This,” BigPond’s editorial choice of the best action coming up that day and when to watch.

“We will also have the full medal tally, results, sport schedule and text-based Olympic news and even links to the official mobile-phone game of the Beijing Olympics, Sonic the Hedgehog,” McGrath says.

McGrath says that Telstra is able to offer so many services, including live streaming, because of the technology its network utilizes. “We can stream the Olympic Games live because of our superfast 3G HSPA UMTS network (which we have branded the Next G network), and our network reach of 99 percent of the Australian population.

“I see this live streaming of the Games as a sign of things to come, both for us at Telstra BigPond and for the industry,” McGrath says.

“For us, live streaming of the Games is another step in the journey of transformation from a traditional telecommunications company to a media and communications company.

“For the industry, the popularity of consuming video, in particular live streaming, of a sporting event of significance will only grow in the coming years.”

Christine Luby