The Milano Cortina Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games are the largest and most exciting sporting event of 2026: they involve more than 3,500 athletes competing in 16 Olympic disciplines and 6 Paralympic sports, with over 2 million spectators expected from 93 different countries and a global audience (TV, online and digital) of around 3 billion people worldwide.
An event of this scale requires ultra-fast fibre and 5G connectivity and next-generation digital services to enable athletes, organisers, spectators, media and competition venues to benefit from secure, advanced real-time communications and transmissions.
Our technology serving the Games
To support Italy in one of its greatest and most visible challenges, we have made all our know-how and infrastructure available, delivering the event’s full connectivity through an extraordinary plan to strengthen 5G mobile coverage and ultra-fast links across all the territories involved. In particular, the actions implemented include:
- The enhancement of the national transport network infrastructure by more than 8,000 kilometres, with redundant ultra-high-capacity connections of up to 100 Gigabits per second across all strategic Winter Games locations, from PalaItalia Santa Giulia, Fiera Milano City and Fiera Milano Rho to the Verona Arena, across Olympic destinations from Bormio to Livigno, from Cortina d’Ampezzo to Val di Fiemme, and along the main mobility routes connecting competition venues, including motorways, airports and railway stations.
- The development of a dedicated 5G network at San Siro stadium, host of the opening ceremony, featuring innovative technology unique in Italy that increases download speed by 500%, delivering an unprecedented customer experience capable of carrying hundreds of terabytes of data and bringing athletes and global audiences closer together.
- The provision of more than 10,000 SIM cards and 4G/5G routers to support event organisation and plus over 3,600 SIM cards for Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
- Operational coverage ensured by more than 1,000 specialised technicians available 24/7.
All solutions and services delivered for the Games are provided by TIM Enterprise, the business unit that supports large companies and Public Administration in their digital transformation journey.
A legacy looking to the future
TIM’s technological investment in the territories involved in the Games will not end with the conclusion of the competitions: the infrastructure created will remain as an asset for local communities, fostering the digital transformation of cities and territories into smart cities and smart lands.
This is a concrete and strategic contribution aimed at enabling new opportunities for economic and social growth, promoting tourism and new services for citizens and businesses, and making the country increasingly competitive in terms of innovation.
Follow the Olympic and Paralympic Games with us
TIM’s commitment is also reflected in the public’s digital experience: fans will be able to follow all Winter Games competitions on Eurosport channels available on TIMVision, the platform that stands out as the most comprehensive streaming-service aggregator on the Italian market, with daily live events, interviews, in-depth coverage, highlights and real-time medal table updates.
