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The Olympics are imminent, and while this year promises to be a whole new kind of Olympics--specifically, an Olympics that's a lot more depending on Internet staples like streaming video and social media--the actual infrastructure fueling that new Olympics may be in jeopardy by a combination of bizarre policies and edicts from London itself that look downright contradictory.

The biggest chunk of news, according to virtual office services provider Phone (News - Alert).com, fueling these unexpected doubts about connectivity at the Olympic Games is that personal wireless access points have been outlawed within the confines of Olympic venues. This in turn has left an array of devices using 3G and 4G signals as backhaul for devices like ATAs and laptops, dead in the water. This news was part of an earlier report that listed such devices as banned along with the standard items banned in public like guns and knives and explosives, and oddly enough, allowed the devices themselves to be brought in, but not if they were to be used as access points. 

This, coupled with the lack of response to questions from the Olympic authorities themselves, has left many speculating over the cause of such a ban. Potential causes range from concern about overuse--which makes some sense; getting that many connections in that small a space running a variety of different devices should make any network operator nervous--but others have wondered if the cause isn't a bit more political.

British telecom firm BT (News - Alert) has, reportedly, arranged for 1,550 access points to be installed across the Olympic venues. Subscribers will have free access, as will those whose parent companies have roaming agreements with BT. But those without will need to pay for access. Meanwhile, just away from the stadiums in London's West End district, there's free Wi-Fi service, free Wi-Fi that doesn't seem encumbered by things like subscriptions and roaming agreements.

It leaves the whole "there's not enough capacity" argument ringing just a bit hollow when there's sufficient bandwidth to make most of the West End an open spur, but inside the Olympic venues themselves it's comparatively thin rations. Just what's behind all this is quite unknown, but it's left some wondering just what the real story is at the end of the day.

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