Telefónica and Sony have carried out a 5G connectivity trial at Madrid’s Movistar Arena, achieving speeds of several gigabits per second by using the 26 GHz band, also known as the millimetre band or mmWave.
The pilot project in Spain was designed to demonstrate how the technology can support thousands of people intensively using mobile data at an event, while also enabling a TV broadcast with multiple video feeds that require real-time transmission of large amounts of data.
The trial tested a new configuration called Heavy Uplink, or a network optimised for uplink bandwidth, designed to deliver exceptionally high upload speeds.
At the Movistar Arena, upload speeds of over 1.8 Gbps were achieved, the highest speed deployed to date on a commercial 5G network in Spain.
This capacity is reportedly key for activities such as live video broadcasting or remote audiovisual production in environments with very high traffic.
The pilot was carried out in collaboration with Sony, which tested the operation of a 5G audiovisual broadcasting system based on elements such as the CBK-RPU7 remote production unit for ultra-low latency HEVC video encoding.
The 4K ultra-high-definition image captured by HXC-FZ90 was transmitted after encoding up to 100Mbps, to a 5G network via Sony’s PDT-FP1 portable data transmitter and then decoded by an NXL-ME80 media processor.
Leonor Ostos, Director of Product and Service Development at Telefónica Spain, said: “This installation in the 26 GHz 5G band at the Movistar Arena demonstrates our commitment to next-generation networks. This technology enables use cases involving the management of large volumes of data in real time, driving both professional use within the industry and a superior connected experience for the public at mass events such as concerts and major sporting events.”
Rob Thorne, Category Head of Networked Live at Sony Professional Europe, said: “5G promises greater flexibility for production companies, but bandwidth and architecture limitations have held it back until now. By combining the 5G mmWave technology deployed at the Movistar Arena, with Sony's unique HEVC solution, we're proving that 5G can meet the high-quality, low-latency demands of live production today”.
A collection of broadcasters and technology suppliers recently called on mobile operators to enable standardised, interoperable, quality on-demand (QoD) network application programming interfaces (APIs) for live 5G broadcasts. Discover more here.
Netflix forecast to reach 400 million subscribers by 2031
Netflix is forecast to reach nearly 400 million subscribers worldwide by the end of 2031, reinforcing its position as the world’s leading subscription streaming platform despite growing consolidation across the industry.
Early Freeview switch-off would be “unprecedented gamble” for UK TV
Switching off Freeview in the 2030s would be far more complex, costly, and risky than the UK’s digital TV switchover, according to a report by Christy Swords, the former Director of Change at ITV Broadcasting, who was involved in the original process.
RTS names Chair of Student Television Awards at annual ceremony
At the annual awards ceremony, the Royal Television Society (RTS) welcomed Rhuanedd Richards as Chair of the Student Television Awards.
.jpg)
Sony invests seven figures in AI copyright protection startup
The Sony Innovation Fund has invested in Midnight Labs to protect IP from mass piracy, deepfakes, and AI-generated infringement in the US and Japanese markets.
CMA formally begins investigating Paramount's $110bn WBD merger
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published the commencement notice for its investigation of Paramount Skydance’s anticipated acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), marking the official beginning of the inquiry.
