Sydney – Telstra has signed agreements with China Netcom and the Australian rights holder, the Seven Network, to broadcast live coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics to millions of Australian homes. The telco will use two dedicated fibre-optic cable links from China to Australia as a dual backup to provide uninterrupted and live broadcasting, circumventing any cable failures. Telstra will monitor the international broadcast feeds as they travel from Beijing across more than 15,000 km submarine optic fibre cable to Seven’s studios. Seven will then use Telstra’s Digital Video Network for carriage to transmitter sites for delivery to TV screens across the country. Telstra International Managing Director, Drew Kelton, said the increasing popularity of high definition digital plasma and LCD TVs in Australia was driving the need for high bandwidth connectivity from overseas. More than 30% of Australian homes can receive digital free-to-air television. Telstra beamed the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games to Asia, Europe and the Americas and the 2006 FIFA World Cup from Germany to the Asia Pacific.