Won't the same problem happen if there are too many people trying to run personal hotspots in a given area?
ps. wasn't my downvote, I think they're useless
edit-- well it seems you removed the part of your comment that called out your down-voter and now i seem pedantic
They could. At the expense of everyone else around them.
You make it free, 'cos it's the Olympics and people need to communicate freely.
Go to a club on Thursday night (Thirsty Thursday) and try to have a conversation with your friend. The same thing happens with wifi. Considering the amount of wifi equipment used by the teams at the Olympics, I think it's more pragmatic for the IOC to heavily regulate the spectrum to be sure the coaches can do their job. When it's all said and done, the spirit of the Olympics is about the athletes, not the fans.
When I go out to a loud club I can still communicate and no one comes around telling me it's against the club rules to try to.
The Olympics would be nothing without our ability to communicate about them. IMHO that's one of the biggest failings of NBC this year. They're doing a horrible job of communicating the Olympics. Opening up the communication channels just brings more interest, more coverage and more excitement.
The NBC debacle is a big deal, and if I was American it would have a big impact on my enjoyment. But this is vastly different, and I'm not finding my enjoyment affected one bit by this ban (I doubt that I will be bothered when I'm down there next week either).
I used to love the Olympics. Stuff like this has made me hate it.
That was a great story.