The eyes of the world were focused on Russia and the Fifa World Cup through TV screens, laptops, mobiles, or live from the stadiums.
But for this edition of the sporting extravaganza, a study by Ipsos found that one in four fans would be watching the games online, while 13 per cent will be using their mobiles as streaming technologies move into the mainstream.
In Saudi Arabia, online viewers accounted for 44 per cent of respondents, while 19 per cent watched the games on mobiles and 14 per cent on tablets.
This volume of online and mobile streaming means a significant demand in bandwidth from regional telecom operators and networks, to ensure they provide users with high-speed communications.
The 2018 World Cup is also pioneering technologies such as Virtual Reality available as a live experience, and 360° video on demand (VoD).
So, games were filmed and broadcast in Ultra High Definition with High Dynamic Range (HDR) for the first time ever with the help of 37 cameras at every match, including super slow-motion and two ultra-motion cameras, a cable-cam and a Cineflex Helicam, to ensure high-class imagery from every angle.
This year also marked the introduction of video assistant referees (VAR) at a major global tournament. The VAR system makes use of the broadcast cameras that feed from the 12 stadiums to the video operation room through a fibre optic network, and the referee talks to the VAR team via a sophisticated fibre-linked radio system. In this case, high-bandwidth and low latency are required to ensure the virtual assistant referee can review the footage and make a decision in real time.
All these technologies generate different kinds of network traffic and expected to work perfectly in-sync. Furthermore, stadiums have drastically fluctuating bandwidth demands. For most of the day, these venues have little need for massive connectivity as compared to times when the games are taking place, so it is important network resources are managed intelligently.
With 5G networks, all these challenges can be addressed for large-scale sporting events. It promises 100x faster speeds, 100x more devices, 10x lower latency, and 1000x higher data volumes than today’s 4G. The World Cup already benefited from the installation of 5G-capable radio equipment at more than 40 sites in seven of the 11 host cities, with the network covering stadiums, fan zones and transportation hubs as well as famous landmarks — including Moscow’s Red Square.
In the future, with the help of 5G networks, sporting events will be able to deliver better connectivity for fans in a stadium, as well as new experiences such as AR and VR to those watching from elsewhere. By using cameras placed around the stadium to create artificially generated perspectives that move around with the players, viewers can feel immersed in the game itself and be present on the ground in real-time among the players.
Live VR is like watching an extremely immersive movie, with the unit passively accepting the data stream from the network, which requires low latency and a high bandwidth connection to achieve high video throughput. VR will also be used increasingly for replays to show the different players and the pitch in different angles. To transmit this information, copious amounts of bandwidth are required.
However, VR is exceptionally sensitive to lag and viewers can experience delays between when an input is placed and when the system reacts to it. Hence, where VR is running in the cloud and the unit is wireless, there is a need for 5G. Meanwhile, augmented reality requires 1ms of latency — which can only be provided by 5G.
Network providers are beginning to realise the level of complexity this will introduce, and that their current networks may not be up to the challenge. Meeting the demand will require network capacity increases in orders of magnitude, as well as the need for the network to adapt and respond to unpredictability in traffic patterns.
An adaptive network is key to addressing these challenges. It utilises automation, guided by analytics and intent-based policies, to rapidly scale, self-configure, and self-optimise by constantly assessing network pressures and demands.
The adaptive network must scale from both capacity and operational perspectives — transporting maximum capacity using minimal equipment to get the most efficiency from fibre assets. And using software-based control to offer the ability to automate processes and adjust bandwidth in real time to meet changing customer and traffic requirements.
As 5G is implemented at large-scale events, we can expect to see more uses of AR and VR that create a unique viewing experience for fans.
Azz-Eddine Mansouri is Senior Director of Sales, Middle East at Ciena.
