(ATR)From the peaks to sea, Sochi 2014 offers free internet for accredited press.
It fell to CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko to deliver the sweet news to a roomful of international media Thursday. He told them that media at the Games would have free WiFi access for the first time at an Olympics.
Chernyshenko said the service would be suitable for light use, such as the filing of stories, low-resolution photos or website browsing. No video streaming will be allowed, he said.
For heavier duty applications such as photos and video, paid cabled services are available at prices half what was charged in London.
Telecom sponsor Rostelcom is behind the favorable tariffs, setting the bar at a new level for this now indispensable service at the Games.
All official Olympic Family hotels as well as the Media and Olympic Villages will be pumping with WiFi service, as well.
Chernyshenko broke the news at the World Press Briefing, organized this week by Sochi 2014. About 300 of the world’s press will meet through Friday in Krasnaya Polyana, site of mountain events for the Games, hearing updates on plans for the media at the first Winter Olympics to be held on Russian soil.
Journalists were also told that there will be more to cover than ever at the Games: 12 new events have been added, such as ski slopestyle and new snowboard disciplines. A mixed relay is set for the luge, and team figure skating will debut in Sochi.
In all 98 medal events will be held in Sochi compared to 86 in Vancouver.
In touting Sochi as the most compact Winter Games ever, organizers are promising journeys in the range of an hour from the coastal venue cluster at the Olympic Park to mountain venues 48km away. Travel would be by bus on the new motorway being built for the Games. While press will have access to a new rail line running to the mountains, they are being discouraged from using the service as there are no connections to media facilities from the train station.
And while vehicles can be rented from the Sochi rate card (VWs), Sochi organizers are trying to discourage use of cars as much as possible due to limits on parking. They may have found a good way to force media organizations to think twice about using cars and vans: money.
A vehicle access and parking pass for both mountain and coastal venues costs a whopping $5,700 on the Sochi rate card.
Media at the World Press Briefing were also advised that taxis were probably not a suitable option unless the passenger speaks Russian.
Written and reported in Sochi by Ed Hula
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