Spectators at next year's Commonwealth Games will be able to access 5G mobile technology for the first time, which would allow them to watch events from every Games venue through an app, share videos of their favourite events and track their friends from their mobile phones.

Information technology giant Cisco, which has provided technology hardware to the past three Olympics and four Commonwealth Games, on Friday announced it would be the information technology hardware sponsor for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

That meant the Gold Coast Games would be the first to experiment with 5G technology, allowing much faster and more sophisticated data storage and data streaming not predicted to be commercially available until the end of the decade.

Optus has already signed on to trial 5G technology at the Games, allowing much larger data storage, downloading and streaming.

Games head of technology Mathew Peterson said the technology would shape the "customer experience" at the Commonwealth Games.

"We know that Optus will be trialling 5G data and voice during the Games as well," Mr Peterson said.

"So, from a spectator, we have quite an evolved plan coming together for the customer experience.

"This could involve everything from the video board experience, the public announcement type experience, but we're also going to expand that into areas of social media interaction with the spectators as well."

Mr Peterson said he had begun talks with other telcos to expand data storage capability.

Games organising committee chairman Peter Beattie said preliminary talks showed the network, provided by Cisco, would allow people going to the Games to experience much more than simply watch from the stands.

"People these days want a total experience," he said.

"They don't just want to just go and sit in the venue and just watch it, so the technology and the sharing devices is going to be really important.

"The quality of that experience will be one of the legacy items of these Games."

Information about every athlete and their results in every games event will be downloaded in real time.

"We will have a whole host of information about the athletes, their past history, their performances and even the live results as they come in in real time on an app," Mr Peterson said.

Mr Peterson said that data – provided by the internationally recognised Longines Timing – would be added to a total mix of Games information for fans.

"It gives us a whole host of information that will go to our mobile website and to our mobile app and transmitted on the Cisco network," he said.

"We will have other relevant information on the app as well: transport information, spectator experience, what's happening in other venues, what's happening at the cultural festivals and things like that."

Mr Beattie said he was aware of public concern about rail but remained confident the Queensland government would provide the new trains and carriages promised for the Gold Coast line before the Games began in April 2018.

"The director-general of Transport Minister Jackie Trad's department comes to our board meetings," he said.

"We are confident with what we have said about increasing the number of trains between Brisbane and the Gold Coast to deliver those large number of clients because the ticket includes the public transport, so I have a degree of confidence between our transport team and theirs."

Cisco Australia vice-president Ken Boal said the company provided security and assurance to Games organisers, the 6600 athletes and officials, 3500 journalists, 15,000 volunteers, 1.2 million spectators and 1.5 billion watching on pay television around the world.

"Let's face it; it's a sporting event, it's a physical event, but it all relies on digital technology," he said.

"A lof of this technology is hidden in the backrooms, but it plays such a critical role.

"If it doesn't work, or if there are security issues, or quality issues, then essentially everything stops."