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Greek mobile operators vent ire at Olympics authorities
Athens, Oct 07: Private Greek mobile operators have accused authorities of dragging their feet in granting access to the 2004 Olympics sites -- crucial to beefing up network capacity to prevent crashes during the games.
Athens, Oct 07: Private Greek mobile operators have accused authorities of dragging their feet in granting access to the 2004 Olympics sites -- crucial to beefing up network
capacity to prevent crashes during the games.
Despite earlier pledges, only the state-run mobile operator Cosmote has been allowed to install transmitters in and near the sites, officials from Cosmote's main rival Vodafone were quoted by the Athens News Agency (ANA) as saying yesterday.
If the matter is not resolved within the next few months, Vodafone will complain to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Cosmote is a sponsor of the 2004 Olympics.
"We're already just one year from the games and we should already have had access to the area to study how to set up the transmitters," Telestet official Apostolos Pagoutsos told reporters in August.
He is in charge of acquiring antenna sites for the third biggest Greek mobile operator. In late July, the government drafted a bill to allow the installation of mobile signal transmitters around a dozen Olympic venues scattered across the greater Athens area in a bid to cover the needs of tens of thousands of spectators.
Companies already complain of network gaps in Athens, particularly in Western suburbs. Licensing procedures for transmitter installations are time-consuming and complex, and municipalities oppose the structures owing to citizens' health fears.
Bureau Report
Despite earlier pledges, only the state-run mobile operator Cosmote has been allowed to install transmitters in and near the sites, officials from Cosmote's main rival Vodafone were quoted by the Athens News Agency (ANA) as saying yesterday.
If the matter is not resolved within the next few months, Vodafone will complain to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Cosmote is a sponsor of the 2004 Olympics.
"We're already just one year from the games and we should already have had access to the area to study how to set up the transmitters," Telestet official Apostolos Pagoutsos told reporters in August.
He is in charge of acquiring antenna sites for the third biggest Greek mobile operator. In late July, the government drafted a bill to allow the installation of mobile signal transmitters around a dozen Olympic venues scattered across the greater Athens area in a bid to cover the needs of tens of thousands of spectators.
Companies already complain of network gaps in Athens, particularly in Western suburbs. Licensing procedures for transmitter installations are time-consuming and complex, and municipalities oppose the structures owing to citizens' health fears.
Bureau Report