The 2014 FIFA World Cup has come to a splendid end, with Germany

winning the championship and Shakira's singing still lingering in the

Maracana stadium. The breathtaking 64 matches captured the eyes of

the entire world. The rise of 4G and the popularization of SNS (Social

Networking Services) apps presented football fans with an amazing World

Cup. People could share their thoughts on the game anytime anywhere.

The 2014 World Cup was truly a digital sports feast.

1. Digital Sports Feast

During the World Cup, Brazil welcomed over 1.5 million tourists and over

3.3 million fans watched the games live. Outside the stadium, millions of

fans gathered on Copacabana Beach and in bars and hotels. They used

smartphones, laptops, tablets, and even smart watches and glasses

to access the Internet, updating Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and

WeChat. They shared in real time every twist and turn of each game by

uploading pictures and video clips or chatting with friends and families

using these popular social media and messaging apps. Media agencies

from over 100 countries and regions also broadcast-live the event to

the whole world. Statistics show that during the games, the number of

mobile users in Brazil increased by 48% and data traffic consumption

quadrupled. During July 13's final game, more than 70,000 live

spectators uploaded 2.6 million pictures, consuming roughly 1.43 million

MB of data. Compared to the South Africa 2010 World Cup when only

3G coverage was available, this year's World Cup was an indisputable

digital sports feast.

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Brazil World Cup: A Digital Sports Feast

2. Efforts Behind the Success

The World Cup can accelerate a host country's communication

infrastructure development. It attracts dignitaries and media from around

the world and is an ideal location for carriers to boost business revenue

and promote their brand and services. However, if network faults

occur and network communication cannot be restored quickly, carriers'

reputation and even the host country's national image can be significantly

damaged. All carriers rushed to accelerate their infrastructure construction

and launched 4G services in many of the host cities.

The World Cup was held in South Africa four years ago when the world

was evolving from 2G to 3G. The 2014 World Cup in Brazil took place in a

world just beginning to embrace 4G. Carriers anticipated that data traffic

consumption during the World Cup would increase enormously. Numerous

hotspots, complicated user behaviors, and unpredictable business models

all presented challenges to network operations and maintenance with

the assurance of data and 4G services being the top priority. To support

the World Cup, Brazilian carriers were in urgent need of a professional

and competent partner with experience providing guaranteed network

performance for large-scale international events.

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2.1 Preemptive Response: Creation and Verification of Proactive Prevention Solutions

In the past, carriers relied on continuous network monitoring and

troubleshooting to ensure communications during large events, despite

the fact that proactive prevention is more effective. Comprehensive

proactive prevention solutions enable carriers to clearly understand

network behavior and foresee potential risks so that they can act in

advance to prevent the network from breaking down. This time, proactive

prevention guaranteed stable and reliable network performance during

the games.

A year leading up to the World Cup, four Brazilian carriers - Vivo, Tim,

Oi, and Claro cooperated with Huawei to conduct traffic model analysis,

traffic volume forecast, network evaluation, network coverage and

capacity analysis, and user behavior and experience assessment to

identify network risks and examine the gap between current network

performance and service requirements. Special analysis and forecasting

of the LTE traffic model was also performed. After comparing the

World Cup with other large sports events such as the 2013 FIFA

Confederations Cup in Brazil and analyzing the solution impact and

value, Huawei and the carriers' project assurance teams worked

together to lay a solid foundation for successful sports coverage.

2.2 Expert Teams and Contingency Plans to Ensure Stable Communication

Network assurance case studies for large events and similar historical

data were essential to the success of this project. Using the historical

database (containing data from similar large-scale events) as a guide

and examining user behavior and traffic models during sporting events,

Huawei analyzed hotspot areas and accurately predicted the number

of users and corresponding traffic volume. After conducting two rounds

of deep inspection of over 30,000 network elements (NEs), Huawei

evaluated the current network resources and capacity and gave targeted

suggestions and solutions. During the World Cup, hundreds of Huawei

experts were positioned to conduct real-time network monitoring,

problem analysis, and dynamic parameter optimization. In collaboration

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3. Reputation and Revenues

The peak traffic volume of data services during the World Cup increased

by 92% compared to normal operations. The KPIs of the four carriers'

networks supported by Huawei proved much higher than expected. For

example, during the final match between Germany and Argentina, the

two carriers that provided coverage for the stadium reached an access

success rate of over 96% for traditional voice service and over 98% for

3G data services. Surprisingly, the access success rate for 4G services

reached 99%. Throughout the entire event, networks guaranteed by

Huawei reported "zero faults and interruptions". In the end, high-level

leadership of all four carriers praised Huawei's achievements.

Robust networks can weather extreme spikes in traffic and provide

carriers with excellent business revenues. It is noteworthy that Huawei

also helped the carriers develop traffic policies to boost telco revenues.

During this digital sports feast, carriers gained in both reputation and

revenue.

with carriers, they also developed contingency plans for possible

network emergencies. These measures ensured immediate response

through quick fault analysis and location, providing optimal network

performance at all times. Following the World Cup, Huawei restored and

optimized network parameters to provide stable network performance

during normal daily operations.

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