Telecom giant, Cellcard, has become a premium sponsor of the 32nd SEA Games and 12th ASEAN Para Games, pledging to set up internet and cellular services at sporting venues.

Vath Chamroeun, Secretary General of Organizing Committee, CAMSOC, welcomed Cellcard's support during a signing ceremony on Tuesday and urged the company to set up WiFi networks at the athlete village, which will house between 6,000 to 7,000 athletes and officials and strong internet connection will be key.

The athlete village mentioned by Chamroeun refers to the Sport Village, which is currently being developed by WorldBridge and, according to its website, is the first of its kind in the country.

The development combines luxurious commercial and residential aspects with vast sport facilities. While it is being created to initially host athletes for the Games, once they end, the mixed-used development will be put on the market for the general public to invest in.

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“They say without WiFi, they cannot come to compete, so this is a headache for us because athlete village is a new building so we want you to make sure that you can support us, they can use sim cards but they need the WiFi,” Chamroeun said.

CAMSOC has already worked with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to set up public WiFi and he hopes that people attending the SEA Games will be able to share their experiences on social media, he added.

Chamroeun said that athletes and officials will be provided with Cellcard sim cards, when they arrive in Cambodia and Cellcard will also have a booth at the athlete village.

The signing ceremony at between representatives of the NOCC, Pathmazing and Cellcard. Kiripost/Siv Channa

Steven Path, CEO at Pathmazing, which is the master agency of the SEA Games, said that Cellcard is the ninth premium sponsor of the games and he is grateful for the deal with homegrown Cellcard.

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“We look forward to working with everyone at Cellcard to help fulfill the commercial partnership that we have outlined,” Path said.

Cellcard is a leading telecommunication and Cambodian brand, Path said, adding with Cellcard service at the games will be a great way to introduce Cambodia to foreign athletes and delegates.

Simon Perkins, CEO at Cellcard, began by introducing his senior executives at the signing ceremony, which included Kith Sula, son of Kith Meng, who was attending on behalf of his father, the chairman of Royal Group of Companies.

Perkins said the big team presented was an indication of people behind the scene to make this day happen and said he is grateful for the opportunity to support the games.

As the only homegrown telecommunication company, Perkins said that the company is now approaching 26 years in operations and it is natural that Cellcard strongly wants to support this sponsorship.

“I know it was a long negotiation, that just represents the magnitude of funds involved but also the magnitude of the work that needs to be deployed,” Perkins said.

He said that he understands the challenges around sport locations and the services and he is confident that they will meet expectations and exceed them.

With a sister internet company Ezecom, it will make it easy to coordinate with fiber optic infrastructure, mobile infrastructure and WiFi, which is a unique position that all of the services people expect are required, Perkins said.

CAMSOC’s Chamroeun said that preparations for the games are tight on the way and that it is a good time to finalize all of the sponsors as the time is now very short and officials are too busy to do the preparations.

“We can say that we are ready but we have to do something to make sure that everything is reaching the standard of hosting the games,” Chamroeun said.

He said that it is now late in terms of finishing up the Sport Village, saying that “we are now worried a lot but anyway they say it will be finished by the end of this month".

He said that right now officials are working on venue preparations, which have been decorated with displays. He added that about 3,000 performers from the army and the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, have already begun training for the opening ceremony.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has invited all heads of governments in Southeast Asia to attend the opening ceremony, Chamroeun said.

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