Ericsson and Turkcell, have delivered the first immersive live streaming mobile experience over LTE Broadcast in Turkey. This took place during a derby between Fenerbahce and GalatasarayOdeabank, two of Istanbul’s biggest basketball teams.
This demonstration was part of Turkcell’s deployment of Ericsson’s LTE Broadcast solution and highlighted the strength of the solution to power HD video streams of the match from four different angles to mobile devices. The stream was delivered over Turkcell’sLTE network to viewers in the basketball arena. It adds a new dimension to the live sports experience,matching the viewing quality and real-time action of the live game.
Ilker Kuruoz, Chief Technology Officer of Turkcell, says: “To be able to offer LTE broadcast experience, operators have to establish dedicated spectrum and make sure that this does not influence LTE/ VoLTE communication in any way. This was one of our major considerations as we acquired more spectrum than our competitors during the spectrum auction held in August. We will continue to be the leading provider of innovative services. Our spectrum advantage and investment in technology will ensure that we continue to provide the best customer experience, including through our OTT services such as Turkcell TV+, BiP, Smart Cloud and Turkcell Music.”
As part of the commercial agreement, Ericsson’s LTE Broadcast solution replaces unicast content delivery with a single-frequency network broadcast mode to deliver content concurrently to devices, better utilizing the available spectrum and ensuring a broadcast-quality experience across LTE networks. LTE Broadcast combines Evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (eMBMS) with HEVC compression technology and MPEG-DASH to increase the efficiency and responsiveness of delivering video to consumers when, and how they demand it. LTE Broadcast can be used in live streaming, as well as most popular types of media delivery including OTT.
Rafiah Ibrahim, Head of Ericsson Region Middle East, says: “With mobile data traffic expected to grow 15 fold until the end of 2017, largely driven by video, LTE Broadcast is proving to be a vital solution for mobile providers to optimize their networks, increase efficiency and provide the best possible mobile video experience. This live demonstration of our LTE Broadcast solution proved that it is possible to provide a high quality and immersive stream that doesn’t just match, but can actually exceed the live viewing experience sports fans can access through current broadcast TV delivery.
