Case Study: Beijing 2008 Olympics achieves secure city‑wide Wi‑Fi and public-safety communications with HPE Aruba Networking

Beijing Olympics relies on Aruba wireless mesh networks for public safety and Wi-Fi hot spot

Aruba Networks provided a rapid, city‑scale wireless solution for the 2008 Beijing Olympics to meet officials’ need for broadband coverage that would support secure communications for police, emergency responders and surveillance systems while also offering public Wi‑Fi to visitors. The challenge was to deploy a reliable, mobility‑capable infrastructure across key venues to improve public safety and traffic monitoring, mitigate terrorism risks, and avoid disruptive trenching for wired networks.

Aruba deployed 1,000 wireless mesh routers (MSR2000) to cover 38 square miles, delivering Internet hotspots, video surveillance and voice/data links for public safety agencies. The mesh supported peak loads of about 5,000 users and 10,000 sessions per day, transferred more than 3 TB weekly, used a $1 token fee during the Games to offset costs, and was converted to a paid service afterward; the successful model was later replicated in other major Chinese cities.

Beijing 2008 Olympics

Ping Qiu

President, CECT-Chinacomm