BT in talks to commercialise use of 5G non-public networks By George Bevir
Friday, November 11, 2022 - 10:07
Print This Story
A standalone private 5G network was installed for the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Saracens and Northampton
BT Media and Broadcast is speaking with sports clubs around the UK about commercial implementations of its recent 5G non-public network trials.
Over the past few months, BT Media and Broadcast has worked with a host of partners on a series of projects to demonstrate how 5G networks can be used for live broadcasts.
Speaking with SVG Europe, BT Media and Broadcast head of futures John Ellerton hailed the success of the projects and said BT was now looking to commercialise its offering.
We're now talking with a number of UK sports clubs to consider whether we build this into our TV OB fleet. And if enough of them want to buy it, we'll turn it into a commercial service
In May, BT Media and Broadcast worked with University of Strathclyde and its spin-out company, Neutral Wireless, which deployed a pop-up private 5G standalone network at the Saracens v Northampton Saints rugby match. Vislink provided camera encoders and transmitters for the BT-led project, which saw pitch side UHD cameras made available for BT Sport's live coverage of the match.
That was very successful, said Ellerton. And it showed the way in terms of sports broadcasting, making use of non-public, 5G networks.
We then evolved the architecture, working again with the BBC and Vislink/Mobile Viewpoint, this time on the Commonwealth Games. Ericsson was also involved, providing the 5G cell.
That project was about remote production, with feeds delivered to a gallery at BBC Broadcasting House. The feeds from the Mobile Viewpoint units went straight over the 5G network as IP streams, over the internet, then back to the Broadcasting House where they were turned back into vision feeds and then mixed in the gallery into the programme. So that that was live remote production to air and then to a global audience.
Read more 5G trials at Birmingham Commonwealth Games
The third strand is our participation in the IBC Accelerator, which was effectively 5G broadcast in the middle of nowhere, where we worked with a number of parties, including the BBC, Vislink and Neutral Wireless again, but it was coupling 5G, non-public network cells with backhaul over things like the Starlink satellite network, so that you can go live from anywhere.
And so we did a Maori festival in New Zealand, we did Kenya, and we did the National Ploughing competitions in southern Ireland. And, we did the Highland Games in Scotland which we showed during IBC in September. And in all cases, we were able to go live from a venue that didn't have fibre connectivity.
We used Mobile Viewpoint to bond together low Earth orbit satellite connectivity and 4G and 5G connectivity in backhaul to bring the pictures back. It's exciting because it shows the next generation of what we're able to do with all of this wireless connectivity, that is naturally IP so it's bidirectional and you can therefore send the camera pictures out and you can get the gallery return back.
And at the same time, you can do comms, tally and camera control for shading over the one IP connection, which is very powerful.
So for us, those three trials have now taken us to the point where we are making preparations to commercialise it. We're now talking with a number of UK sports clubs to consider whether we build this into our TV OB fleet. And if enough of them want to buy it, we'll turn it into a commercial service.
Read more IBC Accelerator: Pitlochry Highland Games to showcase how 5G plus Starlink LEO and 4G LTE bonding can bring remote live sports to all
The next stage, said Ellerton is to assemble the technical solution and test its robustness, and to establish whether it is best to install antenna panels at particular grounds or have the antenna panels and electronics within BT's OB vans.
It's now fine about fine-tuning the proposition to work out what's most useful for people. Is it best to provide the infrastructure so that the broadcast production companies can use it in Premiership games? Is it to provide it to the football club so they can use it for capturing footage at training grounds and for friendlies? Or it might be useful for filming outside the stadium to see fans and teams arriving. There's so much potential here, what we want to do is explore the value.
The use of non-public networks is expected to be a relatively short-term arrangement until network slicing of public networks is a reality.
We don't know when that will happen, but when it does we will be able to provide connectivity to broadcasters across the public network, said Ellerton.
And we will commercialise services that then allow broadcasters to bring content directly into the broadcast network and directly then into their studios over existing broadcast infrastructure.
So that will be a coupling of our major broadcast capabilities and relationships with the broadcast industry, with the 5G capabilities of BT Group to make available those capabilities in a way that's really fit for purpose for broadcasters.
Connectivity is one of the subjects that will be featured at SVG Europe's FutureSPORT event in London on 15 November 2022. Find out more: https://www.svgeurope.org/future-sport-2022
Most recent headlines
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
23/12/2025
New technique lights up where drugs go in the body, cell by cell Scripps Research scientists developed a technique that maps drug binding in individual cells th...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...
22/12/2025
Partnership integrates complementary satellite data and AI analytics to enhance security, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring solutions for global cust...
22/12/2025
Workflows allow you to create a sequence of planned events which may be added to your template(s) or inserted directly into your sequential or background playli...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Back to All News
Global Anime Hits and New Releases Take Center Stage at Jump Festa 2026
Entertainment
22 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to clipboar...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
21/12/2025
Back to All News
Legoshi and Haru's Story Reaches Its Finale: BEASTARS Fin...
BT in talks to commercialise use of 5G non-public networks By George Bevir 
