MOBILE connectivity at the Winter Olympics in Sochi has been provided for thousands of users by a York-based communications specialist.

Cellhire, based at Clifton Park, has delivered about 15,000 connections for the Games through a partnership with Russian mobile network MegaFon.

The work is the result of a determined effort by Cellhire over the last two years to break into the Russian market ahead of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, with the firm opening an office in Moscow in 2012.

Global media companies and numerous Olympic organisations have been using Cellhire’s products and services on location from as early as August last year. The business, which in 2005 won a Queens Award for International Enterprise, is offering both voice and data connections in Sochi, supporting live reporting from the event to news desks around the world.

Through its partnership with MegaFon, Cellhire has also worked on the World Athletics Championships, held in Moscow last year, and is now looking to capitalise on the FIFA World Cup in Russia in 2018.

Tim Williams, chairman and chief executive of Cellhire, which will also be providing voice and data solutions across Brazil in June for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, said: “Our record year at the London Olympics working with key sponsors, Olympic organisations and some of the world’s biggest media corporations has given us great momentum to build on at events outside of the UK. We are delighted with our success in Sochi and our progress in Russia over the past 18 months.”

Cellhire’s agreement with MegaFon has enabled the company to offer English voicemail services and 4G coverage in Sochi.

Bogdanova Nadejda, senior development manager of Small and Medium Business at MegaFon said: “The unique offers we have with Cellhire have put us in an excellent position to maximise the inbound opportunities coming to our region in the near future.”

Cellhire, which was formed in 1987, has a growing portfolio of customers having supplied organisers and businesses during events such as the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro finals and The Cannes Film Festival.