Carriers have made it clear that 5G is the next big thing for mobile technology, with AT&T targeting the end of this year for a rollout to a dozen markets. To show the power of 5G, however, Fox Sports is partnering with AT&T, Intel, and Ericsson to use 5G technology to broadcast the upcoming U.S. Open Championship in 4K HDR…
Announced this week, the partnership will see 5G put to the test to stream footage from the U.S. Open Championship next month. Fox Sports will position two cameras at the seventh hole and subsequently broadcast that footage through DirecTV.
For its part, Intel is providing its 5G Mobile Trial Platform for testing purposes – which is capable of transmitting up to 1.6Gbs/s connectivity:
Meanwhile, AT&T will use millimeter wave spectrum to deliver the 5G connection. The carrier says that it believes “live sports will be transformed by 5G” thanks to the high-speed and low-latency connectivity it offers.
It seems, however, that Fox Sports won’t be relying solely on the 5G connectivity for its broadcast, with the company treating it as a “true 5G live test environment for 4K image and streaming.” Ultimately, Fox Sports hopes that 5G will be able to provide ultra-high-definition broadcasts while subsequently lowering production costs:
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen 5G put to the test for broadcast scenarios. At the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games, Intel deployed 22 live 5G links and supported 3,800 terabytes of network capacity.
While this is certainly just a proof of concept at this point, it is interesting to see companies already planning the future of 5G and looking into ways to harness its power. AT&T hopes to launch 5G to a dozen cities by the end of this year.
The U.S. Open Championship will take place from June 14th through June 17th in Southampton, New York.
