A collection of telecom, tech and equipment giants will help Fox Sports broadcast next month’s U.S. Open golf tournament over a 5G connection.
Fox announced Tuesday that it would position two cameras at the seventh hole of Long Island’s Shinnecock Hills Golf Club and transmit 4K HDR images using 5G wireless systems during the mid-June event.
AT&T will facilitate the connection using millimeter wave spectrum, while Swedish telecom equipment giant Ericsson will provide the 5G radios, baseband, simulated network core and 4K video encoder and decoder.
Intel, meanwhile, will provide its 5G Mobile Trial Platform, which boasts speeds of 1.6 Gbps, at the seventh hole. The tech company helped pioneer 5G networks at February’s Winter Olympics in South Korea.
“Our learnings from this collaboration will fuel a stronger 5G user experience in live sports while the industry drives towards development of 5G devices and network build-outs,” said Intel VP and General Manager of Next Generation and Standards Asha Keddy.
The 5G live test will enable Fox Sports to test transmitting 4K images and streaming video to multiple platforms.
Eventually, officials said 5G connections could reduce live production costs, create scalable ultra-high-definition broadcasting and establish new ways to interact with viewers, such as augmented and virtual reality.
“The high-speed and low-latency delivered by this trial allows the cameras to move without being restricted by cables and create a unique filming environment,” said AT&T Technology & Operations President Melissa Arnoldi. “We believe live sports will be transformed by 5G — whether it’s virtual and augmented realities for those watching from afar or how connected sensors could help analyze golf swings, wind conditions, even the speed of greens for the golfer in future U.S. Opens.”
Filed Under: 5G
