A delivery of live UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Champions League football coverage took place this month in the Faroe Islands. This programme is being transmitted from space via the internet.
Fans around the world were able to watch live coverage of the Champions League qualification between local side K Klaksvk and Hungarian giants Ferencvaros from the distant North Atlantic islands. This game will be televised via satellite internet provider OneWeb’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) connectivity.
The game was hosted at the Við Djúpumýrar stadium in Klaksvík. This remote location has made connectivity requirements for sports broadcasting challenging, but for this match-day coverage, OneWeb worked with delivery partner Network Innovations as well as Open Broadcast Systems to stream the match live via its LEO constellation, allowing for real-time viewing so fans didn’t miss a moment.
Despite the score of 0-0, fans around the world were able to witness the action live on numerous TV and streaming platforms, including local TV station TV2 and worldwide video-on-demand channel Paramount+. OneWeb connected its high North satellites to its recently launched flat panel user terminal, the Kymeta Hawk u8, which can be mounted on a building or vehicle to deliver high throughput and low latency communications, with download speeds of 75mbps and consistent stream speed of 10mbps using a 15mbps upload.
The terminal, which was installed on top of one of the Vi Djpumrar stadium stands, was a simple plug-and-play solution that provided a suitable alternative to traditional satellite vehicles – of which the Faroe Islands have none – and mitigated the limitations of backpack-style broadcast solutions for high quality sports transmissions. The Kymeta terminal works alongside the OneWeb LEO satellites to deliver a stream at comparable bitrates.
Charlie Clark, director of government at OneWeb, says “This successful broadcast in a remote location like the Faroe Islands paves the way forward for low-Earth-orbit connectivity and opens up more of the world to global communications, for not only entertainment and sport but also government and enterprise requirements too. To bring coverage and connectivity to remote locations like this is the future and we look forward to supporting more games like this for UEFA.”
Douglas Yeaman, technical sales manager, at Network Innovations, adds “It was a pleasure to facilitate the live stream of this game, and we look forward to future opportunities in helping broadcasters, among other users, overcome the challenges of remote, unforgiving environments. As OneWeb’s trusted partner in delivering high-speed, low-latency connectivity, Network Innovations is thrilled to see this solution operate as an alternative to conventional satellite vehicles. It’s an exciting milestone not just in the world of satellite, but the world of sports.”
OneWeb now has over 600 satellites in LEO, providing coverage across North America and Europe. And in June 2021, OneWeb also announced it had achieved its ‘Five to 50’ mission designed to deliver next-generation space-based connectivity to Alaska, Canada, the United Kingdom, Northern Europe, Greenland and the wider Arctic region.
Customers connect to OneWeb’s LEO constellation using a family of user terminals which ensure fixed, on the pause and on-the-move communications, even at high speeds. By the end of 2023, OneWeb will provide customers with Communications On The Move and the ability to integrate Digital Age technologies into its network, including cloud computing and the Internet of Things, making remote production and enhanced broadcasting ever more accessible.
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