Officials from the Toronto-based company that’s been chosen to develop a network infrastructure for the 2012 Olympics in London say they’re preparing to do more than deliver the most technologically advanced games in history.

 

It’s true, Nortel (News - Alert) officials say, that the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games selected their company, in part, for the breadth and depth of the unified communications leader’s capabilities.

 

Joel Hackney (News - Alert), Nortel’s president of enterprise solutions, says Olympic organizers are expecting to send information to more than 4 billion people and that about 15,000 athletes, 17,000 volunteers and 20,000 media members will be on hand for the London games.

 

Yet another of Nortel’s distinguishing features, Hackney said, is that the company focuses on the environment and sustainability.

 

“Fundamentally, it really starts from our carrier history and heritage, where power consumption is an important element,” Hackney told TMC (News - Alert) in an interview today, adding that, compared to its competitors, Nortel “can deliver 25 to 40 percent lower energy consumption, which translates into economic benefits and environmental benefits from the perspective of power consumption and a carbon footprint.”

 

According to Hackney, the “green” considerations formed some of the organizing committee’s major criteria in selecting a network infrastructure provider.

 

“We’ve been very vocal, and in this world of inflation, in this world of oil prices, and in this world of sensitivity around environmental issues, they’re demanding – and we’re stepping up and providing – unique solutions,” Hackney said. “This was a unique decision by the Olympic committee, a true advantage for us, and we were happy that they put it in there.”

 

Nortel regularly makes news in the “green technology” arena. Earlier this month, a study found that Nortel ERS 8600 uses nearly 40 percent less energy than comparable competitors’ systems, reducing data center operational costs.

 

Also earlier this month, leaders from the Toronto-headquartered company discussed with TMC a multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract to provide environmentally friendly telepresence services for an international accounting and consulting firm.

 

Those telepresence services save money, do away with a lot of logistical hassle, and are seen as good for the environment because they require no fuel-burning flights or car rides, officials say.

 

The company’s expertise in the general area of “presence” are seen as key to the London Olympics, where organizers, reporters, athletes and fans will want and require immediate results and images from events running simultaneously throughout the British capital.

 

Nortel already has been chosen to support the first all-IP Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, Hackney said, across “wireline and wireless infrastructures where an observer could go in and find out the results of a game, have them delivered to a cell phone immediately.”

 

It isn’t clear yet what sorts of technologically advanced experiences the 2012 Olympics will require, he said.

 

“The key here is that what the Olympic committee was looking for was a technological partner that could bring a state-of-the-art infrastructure that could mandate and build off of a limitless amount of applications and experiences for observers of games, athletes and reporters,” Hackney said.