Vodafone guarantees ITN a piece of the action
UK Mobile operator Vodafone and TV station ITN have explained what a public 5G Standalone (5GSA) network is and how it will be used to broadcast the coronation of King Charles III. A 5GSA appears to be a fancy name for a dedicated slice of Vodafone’s public network and the telco has reserved one exclusively for ITN for broadcasting the coronation. This means that a swift and secure transfer of the live pictures of the King’s Crowning ceremony will pass from Westminster in London’s South West One (SW1) region about five miles away to ITN’s HQ newsroom in Gray’s Inn Road, which is in the East City (EC2) district of the city. The footage will then be shared across the nation and then worldwide.
The technology partnership will mark this momentous event in history as the first 5GSA coronation, claimed Vodafone UK business director Nick Gliddon. “[Together] we are helping make this special event happen,” said Gliddon, “from the first text message to the first mobile call, we have been central in the UK’s adoption of digital technology. Now we are continuing this tradition by being the first to switch on 5GSA for the public to trial and providing a slice of this network for the coronation.”
By publicising the fact that the ITN pictures are being broadcast over a slice of a public 5G network the public may be alerted to the exciting possibilities with 5GSA, Gliddon argued. “Artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, holographic calls and the IoT are possible with 5GSA. It will turbo-charge the UK’s digital economy and pave the way for our next digital age,” said Gliddon.
It’s 70 years from the milestone in outside broadcasting that was the 1953 corporation, pointed out Jon Roberts, director of television, production and innovation at ITN. “It feels fitting that, ITN will be delivering coverage to audiences around the world whilst trialling the future of cellular connectivity” said Roberts, “We are proud of our role in broadcasting this historic event and excited to be blazing a trail in partnership with Vodafone as we explore the capabilities of 5GSA technology together.”
In the broadcasting industry, network slicing can set a minimum upload speed threshold to guarantee that digitally dense content is uploaded quickly and reliably for live streaming. This will be a great branding occasion for the technology, if the public can be subtly reminded that 5G networks are being used. It could be a good way of implanting the message in the public consciousness that network slicing can remove the risk of network congestion affecting the performance of the broadcast. This is particularly relevant for mass events such as the coronation as well as for live content contribution in isolated locations, said a Vodafone release. The anointment of a new head of state provides an ideal conversation starter, which could be steered to namedrop some of the benefits of network slicing. Rather than discussing the nuances of the constitutional monarchy, the crowd of well-wishers may discuss how broadcasters can use private mobile network for video transmission with no extra heavy-duty equipment, planning, back-office or spectrum licensing needed and it can be accessed all via a SIM card.
The testing of this joint venture was supported by Vodafone’s technology partner Ericsson and ITN’s technology partner LiveU. This was done at Vodafone and Coventry University’s 5GSA Media Innovation Lab in Coventry, which opened earlier this year. Broadcasters and other media companies, as well as the software development community, have been invited to the lab to develop 5GSA use cases for the media industry, working alongside Vodafone engineers and Coventry University academics. The lab supports proof of concepts and allow development and testing of end-to-end solutions in a safe and configurable environment.