Brazil promises fast internet during 2014 World Cup

PanARMENIAN.Net - Soccer fans attending next year's World Cup in Brazil will have no problem going online from stadiums, but they might want to use a local cellphone chip to keep their charges low, Brazilian Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo said on Thursday, May 2, Reuters reported.

Each of the 12 stadiums hosting the 32-nation soccer tournament will have two separate 50-gigabyte networks connected to Brazil's fiber optic backbone, he told reporters.

"I doubt that the stadiums will use one third of the capacity that we are installing," Bernardo said.

"Not even Mr Jerome Valcke will use up all that capacity, though he could if he makes a lot of explosive statements," the minister said in reference to the general secretary of FIFA, the governing body of global soccer.

Valcke was briefly declared persona non grata by the Brazilian government last year for saying Brazil needed a "kick up the backside" to speed up preparations for the World Cup.

Though relations between Brazil and Valcke have improved since, FIFA remains concerned about construction delays for the stadiums that will host the games. It has also expressed worries about the readiness of hotel, transport and communications facilities.

Brazil has yet to officially open two of the six stadiums that will be used for the Confederations Cup, a dress rehearsal for the 2014 tournament. The smaller contest kicks off on June 15 with Japan facing the host country in the capital, Brasilia.