Timing New Zealand managing director Paul Ryken started his company 15 years ago as a one man operation recording times at sports events around the country. Since then, the company has diversified, and now also looks after online registrations, provides results to websites, competitors and commentators, and issues result notices and certificates.

“When we started out, we simply timed events with a stopwatch and provided results accordingly,” says Ryken. “Now event organisers and participants themselves demand accurate, instantly available performance information and results and we’re constantly looking for new ways to deliver.”

Timing New Zealand put Telecom’s Mobile Broadband to the test in the 2005 Bonita Ironman New Zealand event in Taupo and the technology came out a winner.

Mobile Broadband data cards allowed Timing New Zealand to send information at high speed from timing locations around the course to a results server located in Auckland. Ryken says his company was able to provide split times and final results to the World Triathlon Corporation website, IronmanLive.com, as well as sending the results to commentators and media immediately as they became available.

“We had antenna mats placed at timing locations around the course that received a signal from the unique Winning Time transponder attached to each competitor’s leg. When the competitor crossed the mat, their signal was picked up by the Winning Time boxes and processed in a notebook computer at that timing location. This computer then used a Mobile Broadband data card to send the time and competitor number information to our results server. From there, we could disseminate the information to whoever needed it.”

Ryken plans to offer Mobile Broadband to more event organisers in the future. “This technology provides amazing data transfer speeds but it’s still really affordable. “It’s more than proved its worth,” Ryken says.

For more information
Telecom New Zealand
www.telecom.co.nz

November 2005