OREANDA-NEWS. September 05, 2016. 5G could transform the experience of watching live sports action. Deutsche Telekom and Nokia have demonstrated Ultra Mobile Broadband capabilities of 5G to deliver a superior interactive in-stadium media experience at this year’s International Stadium Festival (ISTAF) in Berlin. The world’s biggest one-day athletics event hosted the first showcase of the “5G Test Field Berlin", initiated by the Senate Department for Economics, Technology and Research. For the first time in the world live interactive Ultra High Definition video has been delivered from a 360-degree camera over a 5G system to Virtual Reality (VR) glasses, so fans can view the sports action from many different vantage points as well as 360-degree renditions of the action.

Bruno Jacobfeuerborn, CTO Deutsche Telekom AG
"5G is set to usher in an exciting new chapter for Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and other future digital entertainment services. 5G networks will improve significantly the user experience by delivering faster, higher quality video and virtual reality content to consumers. A s we are demonstrating here in Berlin, this could transform the in-stadium experience of watching live sports."

Markus Borchert, Senior Vice President, Market Europe, Nokia
“The technical development of 5G is progressing fast. It is now crucial to test applications and use cases in ‘live’ environments, using commercially available systems, in order to demonstrate the impact of 5G for consumers, industries and smart cities of the future. We were able to realize this world’s-first demonstration in Berlin with commercially available hardware from Nokia. It showcases how interactive and direct the stadium experience will be in just a few years from now."

Cornelia Yzer, Senator for Economics, Technology and Research of Berlin
“Today, Berlin has witnessed the technology of the future. 5G will improve the lives of Berlin’s citizens and people globally, attract new tech companies and startups, and boost the development of the innovations of tomorrow. It is key that we develop 5G in Berlin, together with strong partners from the world of business like Telekom and Nokia, academia and science. I’m excited to have seen a breathtaking glimpse of 5G today.“

Future communication services are evolving towards Ultra High Definition video, but also VR, AR holographic 3D communications and virtual avatars. 5G networks will significantly improve the user experience for such services, by providing low latency mobile connections as well as high data rates for a richer interactive experience. This could transform how users follow the action at large-scale public events, from sports to music.

Demonstrations included:

  • Ultra-high 5G data rates allowing users of VR glasses to watch sports events from multiple points of view utilizing live streams from 360 degree cameras (Fraunhofer OMNI Cam)
  • Multiple Full HD live streams from professional TV cameras transmit in parallel via 5G
  • Transmission of two simultaneous 360 degree streams from Nokia’s OZO cam in 3D and HD quality
  • Nokia commercially available, 5G-ready hardware enabling simultaneous transmission of multiple live streams from Omni Cam and other event TV cameras to reach a total data rate of 2,3 Gigabits per second (Gbps)

About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies with more than 156 million mobile customers, 29 million fixed-network lines and around 18 million broadband lines (as of December 31, 2015). The Group provides fixed-network/broadband, mobile communications, Internet, and Internet-based TV products and services for consumers, and ICT solutions for business customers and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in more than 50 countries and has around 225,200 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenues of EUR 69.2 billion in the 2015 financial year – around 64 percent of it outside Germany.