Weekly news round up: Vodafone NZ opens 5G lab & Sports consumers weigh in on streaming

Vodafone NZ opens 5G innovation lab

Vodafone New Zealand has opened its first Vodafone 5G Innovation Lab in Ōtautahi, Christchurch, to help organisations understand the power of 5G and next-generation technologies, Telecompaper reported.

The Vodafone 5G Innovation Lab will aim to help organisations in Aotearoa understand how they can utilise the increased online speeds, better responsiveness and more capacity for connected devices the 5G offers.

To access 5G, Kiwis need a 5G device from Vodafone New Zealand or selected New Zealand retailers, a Vodafone 5G Ready plan and be in a 5G coverage area. 

Changing viewing habits of sports fans on streaming services

This week Verizon Media released a report revealing some of the viewing habits of sports fans in the current streaming landscape. 

Sports fans are willing to pay more for streaming live sports, but only if it provides better access to the sports teams and leagues they are interested in.

The research was conducted amongst 5,000 sports fans in the US, UK, France, Germany, and Holland.

The report found that the opportunity for content providers streaming live sports is huge, as long as they offer greater personalization, better viewing options and a different advertising experience better suited to a streaming environment.

• Read more: Scoring OTT goals with sports broadcasting

Vivendi’s bid to suspend Mediaset’s overhaul rejected

A Dutch court has rejected French conglomerate Vivendi’s bid to suspend Mediaset’s plans to create a pan-European broadcasting holding company, Reuters reported. 

Mediaset plans to merge its Italian and Spanish businesses into a Dutch unit, called MediaforEurope.

However, Vivendi petitioned against it citing ”disproportionate damage to all minority shareholders”. Vivendi said it would appeal the rejected case.

SMS Teleport to provide broadcast services for Eutelsat

Satellite Mediaport Services, the largest independent teleport in the UK, announced on Monday that Eutelsat has selected the company to provide back-up teleport-based broadcast satellite services for its 8 West B satellite, Digital TV Europe reported.

SMS Teleport is providing Eutelsat with 24/7/365 redundant teleport services from its Rugby, UK teleport.

Connected via a diverse fibre linkup to Eutelsat’s Paris-Rambouillet teleport, which provides the principal uplink to Eutelsat 8 West B, the two teleports are reliably ensuring superior quality broadcasts from the satellite across the Middle East and North Africa.

• Read more: Satellite technology: Advances in connectivity

Red Bull set to bid for Formula 1 TV rights in Austria

Red Bull is set to go head-to-head with Austrian public service broadcaster ORF in a battle to claim Formula 1 television rights in Austria from 2021, according to SportsPro Media.

ORF currently has an agreement in place until the end of the 2020 season in a deal worth €10 million (US$ 10.8 million) per year.

Red Bull plans to rival ORF by bringing Formula 1 broadcasts to its free-to-air channel Servus TV.