Intel announced a partnership with NTT Docomo for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo at a press conference on the Sunday before MWC, as it talked up the 5G technology it used at the Winter Olympics 2018 to enhance the experience for fans and athletes.

The Olympic Games will be held in two years’ time, coinciding with 5G commercial deployment, and with the Japanese operator Intel plans to provide 360-degree, 8K-video streams as well as smart city sensors and fully connected cars.

“Fans may be able to take in the action using virtual reality powered by Intel True VR from their TV, headset or wireless device, provided through rights holding broadcasters, running on transformed 5G networks capable of delivering massive amounts of data at multi-gigabit speeds,” said Aicha Evans, SVP and chief strategy officer at Intel.

“Intel and other Olympic partners may offer the latest iteration of 5G communications for vehicles, which already have achieved data speeds of up to 1 Gb/s for 4K-resolution video communications with a vehicle traveling at 30 km/h,” she added.

Athletes will benefit from 5G as they train and compete, as they will have access to rich data and analytics, Evans explained.

“Wearables, smart eHealth equipment and AR/VR simulations, all optimised over a 5G network, could leverage AI to help competitors step up their game,” said Evans.

Sandra Rivera, SVP and general manager of the Network Platforms Group at Intel, described the 2018 Winter Olympics as “the perfect venue to bring 5G to life”. The company built and installed 3,800 terabytes of network capacity as well as around 20 5G links at 10 sites.

Both Rivera and Evans talked up the importance of South Korean operator KT in providing Intel with a strong network foundation, and added that they would use lessons learnt from 2018 to bring even better experiences for fans in 2020.