Olympic record breaker - Athens 2004 becomes the most watched Olympic Games ever!

This year’s Olympic Games was the most watched to date, with 3.9 billion people worldwide enjoying broadcast coverage compared to 3.6 billion for Sydney 2000.

With journalists, athletes, Olympic Committees and tourists from all over the world demanding up to the minute information, mobile voice and data communications were an essential part of the Event’s record breaking success.

Not only were thousands of hours of airtime used throughout the Event, 135 million text messages were sent over the Vodafone Greece network alone as well as 800,000 Multi-media messages.

To enable visitors to stay in touch by phone, e-mail and the Internet from any location, Cellhire provided local airtime, phone and high speed GPRS data card rental solutions throughout the Event. This ensured that users could stay connected whilst avoiding expensive international roaming charges using their home network.

“GPRS data cards were improved to cope with 150kb of data per second….We wanted people to feel like they were at home or in the office”
Nikos Mastorakis, Technology Director, Vodafone Greece.

Cellhire’s GPRS data card rental is one of the most recent additions to its portfolio of event solutions and has enabled users to ‘take the office with them’, regardless of location.

“The GPRS coverage was great, we had one journalist and one photographer roam throughout Europe chasing a story and they didn't miss a beat.”
Shane Williams, News Limited, Australia.

One of Cellhire’s core products, local SIM card rental, enabled large groups to stay in touch with each other, the office, friends and family at a low cost and hassle free.

“We used both the pre-paid and post paid service for committee staff, support staff and the team leaders of each national sports committee and were particularly impressed with the support offered by both Vodafone Greece and Cellhire.”
Sabine Zöll, German Olympic Committee.

In partnership with Vodafone Greece, Cellhire was able to provide a first class service to all customers and contribute to the achievement of a record breaking Olympic Games.

“With Cellhire as its rental partner, Vodafone Greece was able to reach customers from all over the world who required temporary solutions whilst visiting Greece. With a fast efficient service as well as on-site customer support throughout the Event, Cellhire ensured all needs were met and both parties had an extremely successful event.
George Kalomallos CRM Senior Manager, Vodafone Greece.

Cellhire also provides mobile communication rental solutions at other events including the Cannes Film Festival (official supplier), the Rugby and Football World Cups, the Tour de France and G8 Summits.