AT&T and LiveU bet on 5G for live news and sports broadcasts
LiveU’s HEVC Broadcast Units Will Use AT&T’s 5G Network for Mobile Video
Production Broadcasters, production teams, and sports organizations must deliver breaking news and live events quickly and efficiently. 5G offers the potential to transform video operations behind the scenes, expand broadcast production capabilities and deliver next-generation entertainment options. AT&T* and LiveU are working together to bring 5G to LiveU’s HEVC (High-Efficiency Video Coding) portable streaming solutions. Let’s test the real-world impact and performance enhancements that 5G technology can have in producing live video streams using LiveU’s HEVC portable broadcast units.
LiveU provides reliable live video streaming solutions for TV, mobile, online media, and social media to produce news, live sports, and event coverage in over 130 countries. The combination of HEVC bonding and 5G capabilities is intended to enable LiveU’s global customer base to take advantage of the highest speeds and lowest latency in the field and promises enhanced capabilities for future LiveU video solutions.
From mochilinks to smartphones, and from hybrid satellite/cellular video solutions to antenna solutions, LiveU enables content creators to capture, manage and distribute high-quality live streams from anywhere. LiveU’s HEVC handheld units currently use a patented technology that links multiple cellular networks for video transport, including AT&T’s 4G LTE network. In addition, they offer other transport technologies such as Wi-Fi and satellite.
“In a 24-hour world of news, it’s very important that news gets to the public quickly,” said Mo Katibeh, Marketing Director for AT&T Business. “By partnering with LiveU to test 5G with their portable HEVC broadcast units, we will learn how we can help broadcasters increase their production capabilities and expand the possibilities for future innovations, as well as help them create new engagement models for consumers. Imagine offering broadcasters the ability to broadcast breaking news in 8K or in an AR/VR 360 format via 5G cellular. ”
“We see 5G as a key advancement for the broadcast industry that will change the way we produce breaking news, live sports, and other live events. We anticipate that the technology will bring more features to our customers, such as multiple audio channels, multi-camera productions from a single portable broadcast solution, 4K streaming, and high-quality video feedback,” said Avi Cohen, Director of Operations and co-founder of LiveU. “AT&T is a strong global leader with a focused approach to providing high-quality solutions that meet the ever-evolving needs of consumers and content creators. Partnering with AT&T demonstrates LiveU’s commitment to providing our customers with unique features and solutions that take advantage of all the possibilities that 5G allows. ”
AT&T and LiveU plan to explore the use of 5G capabilities at AT&T Foundry to improve the capture and delivery of live video content.
“The LU600 HEVC unit offers the highest video quality and bitrate on the market, the fastest file transfer, and the shortest delay. Combined with the increased capacity and speed of 5G, the technologies are poised to further transform the broadcast industry,” added Cohen.