Commsworld has secured a £1.25m contract to provide the digital infrastructure to stage and broadcast the inaugural 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, to be held at multiple venues across Scotland this August.
The Edinburgh-headquartered company will provide connectivity and resilience to stream the 11-day event, taking place at both indoor and outdoor venues in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, the Highlands and the Scottish Borders.
The event marks the first time 13 world cycling championships have been held together in one country, with contests ranging from track and para-track sprints and cycling acrobatics, to time trials, mountain biking and BMX races.
It will see around 8,000 cyclists compete, with around one million spectators expected.
Commsworld is contracted to provide bandwidth of up to 10 gigabits at all the sites – including the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome and the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Nevis Range near Fort William, Stirling Castle and Glentress Forest.
This will give live pictures to European host broadcaster the EBU and UK host broadcaster the BBC, as well as the ability to give start, intermediate and race finish timing points for each event.
The company will also provide Local Area Network (LAN) capabilities for fan zones, ensuring secure on-site WiFi.
Commsworld plans to achieve this by connecting all sites up to its UK-wide Optical Core Network, which was built specifically to provide uniform security, resilience and bandwidth of digital infrastructure.
Connected to all of the country’s Internet Exchanges, including Edinburgh and Glasgow, Commsworld operates the network exclusively over Dark Fibre, which allows it to maintain control and deliver scalable bandwidth.
Chief operating officer Bruce Strang said: “We have a fantastic track record of delivering secure, reliable and scalable connectivity not only for live streaming events but to event sites.
“One such recent success was the Euro 2020 Football Fanzone at Glasgow Green, where fans could gather safe in the knowledge they would be able to watch Scotland play on a big screen and also live-stream content on their own devices.
“That’s because we have the largest privately-funded Optical Core network in the UK capable of providing a reliable, secure, high-speed network, no matter where people are geographically.”
Trudy Lindblade, chief executive of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, said: “We are delighted that Commsworld will be providing the digital infrastructure for what is a historic moment for the UCI, as all the cycling disciplines come together for the single biggest event in the sport’s history in August.
“We look forward to working with Commsworld so that everyone involved in staging, performing in and watching this huge sporting occasion in Glasgow and across Scotland enjoy seamless coverage of events as they happen in real time thanks to the excellent connectivity and resilience that Commsworld will bring.”
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