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Plugging into the Vancouver Games (images)

A look at some of the 5,000 kilometers of wiring needed to power the Winter Olympics, along with the people making it happen.

Ina Fried
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley.
Ina Fried
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1 of 7 Bell Canada

End of the line

Wiring the 2010 Winter Games, which start Friday in Vancouver, has taken some 5,000 kilometers of cable and involved the efforts of thousands of workers.

Here, a Bell Canada technician monitors things at the broadcast termination point at Whistler Olympic Park.

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2 of 7 Bell Canada

Making a run

Bell technicians at work at the Whistler Sliding Centre, home to events like bobsled and luge.
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3 of 7 Bell Canada

Connecting Vancouver and Whistler

Bell technicians work to build the Olympic fiber network along British Columbia's Sea-to-Sky Highway.
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4 of 7 Bell Canada

Tech central in Vancouver

A look inside the main Technology Operations Center in Vancouver, where vendors like Atos Origin, Avaya, Bell Canada, and others will make sure all of the video, data, and voice is flowing as it should.
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5 of 7 Bell Canada

Racking up

Shown here is a box of telecommunications gear inside the Pacific Coliseum, where short-track speed skating and figure skating events will take place.
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6 of 7 Avaya

A whole lot of switches

Avaya switching gear inside the Technology Operations Center in Vancouver.
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7 of 7 Avaya
More of Avaya's switching gear inside the Technology Operations Center. In addition to all the gear, there are some 400 network engineers and support staff at the Games keeping an eye on all that hardware.

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