By Leigh Andrews and Pat McClelland

Monday, 21 April saw us attending an auspicious occasion. Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Councillor Amos Masondo, made a formal announcement stating that the city of Johannesburg would invest over R120 million to upgrade the Nasrec precinct, to support the centre’s hosting of the International Broadcast Centre during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

He explained that the money would be used to rent and upgrade halls and facilities from the Expo Centre for the duration of the World Cup. Other significant projects already in progress include the tarring of all roads in Soweto, ‘greening’ of the area, and the rapid construction of shopping centres and theatres. Masondo stated these developments in the Nasrec Precinct would ‘accelerate the rise of the South’. In addition, many stadiums are being revamped including Soccer City, which is currently at 40% completion. This is all being done with the aim of providing the ‘best fan experience ever’. Money will be further used to provide essential services such as electricity installation, security and monitoring, waste removal, health and transport. This will accelerate service delivery in the period leading up to, during, and after the event; and as a result, improve quality of life for residents in the area. He added that the development of the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) would also meet the goal of leaving a legacy to the people of Johannesburg.

Dr Danny Jordaan, CEO of the FIFA World Cup Organising Committee, confirmed that the upgrade of the precinct, which includes the development of some 500 residential units and a four star hotel, will assist in leaving a legacy to the people of Johannesburg, in that the revamped Nasrec precinct would now live up to what its name implies- National Sports and Recreation Centre- and become a safe, desirable place to visit during and after the world cup. He named the announcement that Johannesburg will host the crucial IBC operation centre “a major milestone on our joint journey toward 2010”.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter remarked in a video message to guests attending the function, "The IBC will be the pulse and the nerve centre for all TV operations during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Through a sophisticated network, it will be linking the venues in South Africa to the rest of our football family all over the globe. This way it will also create a legacy, far beyond the event in terms of telecommunication infrastructure for the country.”

Deputy Minister of Communication, Roy Padayachee added to the sentiment that the IBC will be a focus- and connectivity-point for South Africa and the rest of the world. He said that seeing as so few people will have the opportunity to watch the world cup live at the stadiums, it would be the responsibility of the IBC to, “Take the experience, enjoyment and success of the tournament to the world in 2010.” He remarked that Joburg’s IBC would be one of the best broadcast centres, with the most up-to-date broadcast facilities around. South Africa has proven its capacity to provide digital signal transmission by digitally broadcasting the soccer match featuring South Africa against Ghana in the preliminary draw. This shows we are on track to transmit the entire Soccer World Cup digitally in 2010, as most South African households will have access to digital TV signal by then. The broadcasting digital migration period will begin in November this year, while the switch-off of the analogue signal is expected to occur in November 2011, thus allowing for a three-year dual-illumination period. The public will have to buy ‘set-top boxes’ to receive the digital transmissions on analogue TV sets. President Mbeki announced in his State of the Nation address that 50% of South Africans will receive digital broadcasting by the end of 2008, and 80% by 2010.

Nasrec, one of the city’s oldest and largest exhibition centres, will see thousands of broadcasters from around the world based there for six weeks during June and July, 2010. Germany hosted 13 400 accredited TV commentators, camera crew, and technical staff at its International Broadcast Centre at the last 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Jordaan said the World Cup will only be regarded a success if its fan base extends beyond the roughly three million supporters who would fill the ‘Calabash’ Soccer City stadium to capacity, by reaching the cumulative TV audience of 30 billion fans in 208 FIFA member countries worldwide. As a result, the IBC will be constructed with the vision of becoming a workplace for the global media which will cover the event 24/7, providing over 200 TV hours over six weeks in 2010. He stated that as a result, only the best technologies will be available, to ensure the best broadcasts in the history of world cup coverage will be possible.

Johannesburg is already the primary broadcasting hub for international and local television and radio, as well as home to almost 60% of all Information Communications and Technology (ICT) enterprises in South Africa. Included in the high-tech facilities that will be constructed at the IBC are satellite support and telecommunications infrastructure, which will support forty gigabytes per second transmission capacity. Expo Centre Chair Andrew Mthembu reiterated the Centre is up for the challenge, and aims to create a ‘media city’ in the Nasrec precinct. Padayachee agreed, “While previous IBC’s have all been temporary, dismantled after the event, the Joburg IBC will be a permanent fixture, set to leave a lasting legacy to the city. Therefore the IBC will continue to serve useful to the ICT industry beyond the world cup. This will create the tangible possibility of turning Joburg into a ‘Dubai Media City’”.

Masondo explained that hosting the 2010 World Cup, as well as having the IBC nestled in Joburg could only stand to boost the city’s infrastructure, “When we look at the projected spend by the media contingent, we proceed from the existing figure that business tourists to South Africa spend on average R2 002 per day. The estimated spend in Johannesburg in 2010 by the foreign broadcaster contingent at the IBC is R209 million, and the total direct spend that is projected in the city due to the hosting of the IBC is R319 9million.”

He concluded, “In this city, we do not regard the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a once-off event … a considerable portion of our planning goes into ensuring that it will leave a legacy for the people of our city. Every Rand we spend on infrastructure and operations will bring lasting benefits to Johannesburg, its residents and its future growth and development.”

With new technology and digital broadcasting, live screening via cell phones will be the norm rather than an exception in 2010.