The tech was used to give rugby fans a glimpse of the future of sports broadcasting at the Wales-Ireland match, part of the Mens Six Nations tournament
Vodafone says it completed a trial to show multiple 5G Standalone (SA) network slices in action for different use cases at a live event – the men’s rugby union international between Wales and Ireland last Saturday. It took place at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff’s city centre in Wales, in front of a crowd of 73,623 rugby fans (shown above).
First slice’s use case
The former Wales and Cardiff Rugby player Ellis Jenkins hosted a social media watch-along live from the match, enabled by network slicing on Vodafone’s 5G Standalone (5G SA) network. Jenkins was not short of material. As he said, “What an epic match, the Welsh boys have restored some pride with their performance this weekend and kept going right up until the final moments.
The dedicated network slice was created in partnership with Ericsson. It provided connectivity to rugby fans in Vodafone’s Hospitality area at Principality Stadium where Jenkins was seated. Vodafone customers, including Jenkins, were able to stream the match live, browse the internet and social media, and share images with friends and family, without interruption.
The equivalent of 480 hours of HD video was transferred over the Vodafone network during a Wales versus Scotland match on 3 February 2024, which would be enough to rewatch the match over 360 times. For context, this figure was 40% higher than that recorded during the Wales–South Africa match in August 2023 at the multi-facility venue.
Second slice for images
The second slice of connectivity was reserved for the Welsh Rugby Union’s official in-house photography agency – Huw Evans Picture Agency to ensure uploading images was not hampered by slow internet speeds caused by too many people and devices competing for signal in the packed stadium.
The media upload slice was created to provide a minimum upload throughput, isolating the traffic from network congestion and guaranteeing uninterrupted connectivity. The increased speed and reliability of delivery allowed the photographer to upload even large unedited image files within 30 seconds, using the stadium’s multi-operator indoor radio system.
Nick Gliddon, Business Director, Vodafone UK, commented, “Network slicing allows us to work with our customers and adapt the network to suit their needs. This is a huge advantage of 5G Standalone – customers can define their own experience with a network which is built for them. As a result, businesses can expect to improve the efficiency of operations, help drive productivity gains and introduce new services to their customers that would not be possible otherwise.”