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The EBU has been at the forefront of Olympic broadcasting for many years and this year is no exception. Master-minded by our Operations Group, based in Madrid under the leadership of Fernando Pardo, we have been working non-stop since the announcement that Beijing was to host the XXIX Olympiad. It has been a seven-year journey since that day in July 2001 when the 112th IOC Session, held in Moscow, made the final selection from a group of candidate cities that included Bangkok, Cairo, Havana, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Osaka, Paris, Seville and Toronto as well as Beijing.

Fernando and his team have planned and negotiated every step along the way and the signature in February 2008 of a landmark agreement with CNC China Netcom Group, was one of the final stages of that journey. The lead negotiator for EBU was EBU Sports Operations  Head of Technical Operations and Bookings, Javier Polo; Mr. Zhan Ruotao led for CNC. Under the agreement, which was signed by the Executive Vice President of CNC Zhao Jidong, EBU Director General Jean Réveillon and Director of Eurovision Operations Stefan Kürten, CNC will provide a massive fibre optic platform for carriage of television, radio and data coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The technical specification of the agreement is impressive. Special Operations Supervisor Jean-Pierre Oudaert: 'The scope of this agreement and the operation we are putting together for Beijing is massive, almost two and a half times what we did in Athens.'

The first negotiation with CNC took place in September 2005 during the inaugural World Broadcaster Briefing in Beijing. Thereafter there were additional face-to-face meetings in Geneva, Madrid and Beijing, as well as video conferences and many telephone conference calls. Head of Technical Operations and Bookings, EBU Sports Operations, Javier Polo: 'It has been a very long and very rewarding road. We finally reached a verbal agreement in March 2007. That was formalized in May 2007 and it took us another nine months to conclude the final Agreement of Services that was signed in February of this year.'

This summer the EBU will coordinate accreditation, accommodation, commentary positions and a whole host of broadcast needs for over 4,500 staff from our members as they descend upon Beijing, all of them determined to make this the best Olympics yet. We are the sole point of contact for our Members with the IOC, with the local organising committee (BOCOG) and with the host broadcaster.

Director of Operations Stefan Kürten: 'We have fostered excellent relations with the IOC and with the organizers of the Beijing Olympics and our team is doing the absolute maximum to ensure we provide our Members with exactly the services and attention to detail that they want. Our business is to make sure the Members have their most successful Olympics so far.'

The contract was signed by Mr. Zhao Jidong, Executive Vice President of CNC, EBU Director General Jean Réveillon and Director of Eurovision Operations Stefan Kürten. CNC is a leading broadband communications and fixed-line telecommunications operator in China and will act as oneof the EBU's major subcontractors for the Games.

Many thanks to Fernando Pardo (Head EBU Sports Operations Group, pictured back row, to the right of Jean Réveillon, above) for sending us the photos of the signing.

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