From September 26 to 28, 2009, the head of the Roman Catholic church, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. will visit the Czech Republic. Telefónica O2 is taking care of the technical security for his visit; the operator is a traditional partner when prominent heads of state and personalities visit the Czech Republic. In the past, for instance, it set up the technical equipment required during the visit of American President Barrack Obama and was also a partner of the Czech chairmanship of the EU. During his stay, the Pope will visit Prague, Brno, and Stará Boleslav, where he will give a holy mass and meet with representatives of the church, academia, and Czech politics.
"Providing technical security during the visits of eminent personalities is a matter of prestige for any company," says David Šita, Vice-President for State Administration, Telefónica O2, adding, "Every such event is followed carefully by specialists and laypersons, so for the organizers it is a great opportunity to prove their abilities."
During the Pope's stay, the capacity of mobile networks in the towns he is visiting will be temporarily increased, a state-of-the-art journalist center has been built, and, in addition to this, O2 transmission vehicles will be available, ensuring television and radio broadcasts from publicly accessible places. Strengthening of the signal primarily concerns Brno and StaráBoleslav, where the Pope will give mass and where great interest among visitors is expected. An international press center will be set up in the Hilton Hotel in Prague; this center will be operational for the duration of the Pope's visit and Telefónica is equipping it with nearly sixty fixed lines and more than ten broadband data connections. More fixed and data lines for media usage will also be installed in both Brno and StaráBoleslav.
Completely independent of this, five O2 transmission vehicles will be operational. The operator will use them to transmit TV and radio signals from places where footage is being shot. Transmission distribution is being carried out for Czech Television and Český rozhlas. Television broadcasts will consist of the first HD-quality transmission that Telefónica has set up terrestrially.