The 100G media backbone will help accelerate the adoption of 4K video, overcome technical complexities of esports, and help broadcasters to switch to full remote production.
Tata Communications, a digital infrastructure services provider, is planning to launch a 100G media backbone to meet the growing bandwidth demands of the industry. It will enable broadcasters, sports organisations, OTT companies and esports businesses to offer their audiences an immersive viewing and gaming experience and transform how they operate through full remote production.
The new backbone will help accelerate industry adoption of ultra-high definition (UHD) 4K video, which requires 12Gbps of bandwidth when uncompressed – four times more than HD video.
With 100G, broadcasters and esports companies can offer viewers and gamers the ultra-immersive 4K viewing experiences they crave without having to worry about running out of bandwidth.
Tata Communications’ 100G backbone will help overcome technical complexities of esports, with each event involving multiple cameras, cutaways, real-time reactions, commentary and intensive editing.
As the global audience of esports is expected to reach 645m by 2022, the bandwidth boost of 100G will bring esports fans engaging gaming experiences. At major sports events, the new infrastructure will have the capacity to support up to 50 raw video feeds and the delivery of unilateral, localised feeds.
The combination of the 100G backbone and workflows on Tata Communications’ media ecosystem will help broadcasters and rightsholders switch to full remote production to bring live events to audiences across the globe.
The 100G capacity lowers the barriers for global sports organisations to move from satellite-based content distribution to fibre across entire continents too.
The new backbone, being built using Net Insight’s next-generation WAN transport platform Nimbra 1060, will underpin Tata Communications’ global end-to-end managed Video Connect network.
Net Insight’s Nimbra 1060 is a new terabit WAN transport platform that enables the delivery of IP-based media services across global media networks without the complex traffic engineering typically associated with high-quality media transport.
Commenting on the launch, Dhaval Ponda, Associate Vice President, Media and Entertainment, Tata Communications, said: “We’re proud to launch this game-changing 100G backbone, and excited about the new opportunities that the powerful combination of Tata Communications and Net Insight’s capabilities offer to broadcasters, sports organisations, OTT players and esports businesses.”
Ulrik Rohne, Vice President, Media Networks, Net Insight, added: “The fact that Tata Communications is delivering its new global 100G backbone using the Nimbra platform is yet another testament to the scalable and innovative nature of our technology. The Nimbra platform is designed to meet these new demands and offer unparalleled flexibility and excel in the highest quality of service and lowest total cost of ownership.”
