23 Nov 2018

EE and BT Sport perform live broadcast with remote production over 5G

On 21 November, BT Group’s EE and BT Sport claimed to have demonstrated the first live broadcast with remote production over 5G. BT Sport will use this approach to increase the coverage available to viewers with more matches and faster highlights.

Ahead of the FA-recognised EE Wembley Cup 2018’s final on 25 November, EE and BT Sport delivered a live, two-way broadcast over 5G from Wembley Stadium to London’s ExCeL Exhibition Centre. The live broadcast trial was hosted by BT Sport presenters Matt Smith and Abi Stephens. The broadcast was carried over 5G in Wembley Stadium, and then produced remotely by the BT Sport production crew at BT Sport’s base in Stratford, East London.

According to EE, the EE Wembley Cup 2018 final will be the world’s first live sporting event to be broadcast over 5G using remote production. The event, featuring YouTube’s biggest footballers alongside international football legends, will be broadcast over EE’s 5G network live from Wembley Stadium on the channel of YouTube star Spencer Owen.

EE’s 5G test network in Wembley Stadium operates in the 3.4GHz band and is connected to a 10Gbps backhaul link. The operator stated that it will deploy 5G network slicing technology for broadcasters to provide guaranteed latency, bandwidth and quality required for live broadcast. EE claims that 5G will enable broadcasters to send match footage back to base within minutes, opening up more coverage possibilities and reducing costs by reducing the number of technicians required at each game.