2024 was the 45th year of the Adidas Stockholm Marathon, one of Europe’s most picturesque marathons – which takes runners through the streets of central Stockholm and offers spectacular views of a capital city built on 14 islands.
This year, hundreds of runners were urged on by the Swedish crowds on the 42-kilometer (26 mile) course, as they ran through the well-preserved medieval town centre and Djurgården Royal Park, past the Royal Palace, the City Hall, the Royal Opera House and the Swedish Houses of Parliament before the winners crossed the finish line in the 1912 Olympic Stadium. This year both winners were from Kenya – Marion Kibor who finished in 2 hours 31 minutes and Fredrick Kibii who ran the course in 2 hours and 14 minutes.
But this year’s race marked another first as well.
5G Broadcasting at the Stockholm Marathon
Three Sweden (Tre Sverige), Ericsson and media production company Mobilelinks joined forces to demonstrate the future of broadcasting for high-traffic sporting events, where connection really matters in order to provide a great and memorable live fan experience.
Mobilelinks livestreamed the event from the lead vehicle using Three’s robust 5GSA network via a dedicated network slice managed through Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core solution, transport layer and radio connectivity, including Massive MIMO and RAN Compute products.
The role of 5Network Slicing in live sports broadcasting
Slicing – a new technique of standalone 5G networks, which is still in its infancy – enabled Three to optimize traffic to meet Mobilelinks’ specific needs for a reliable, high-quality video uplink with guaranteed throughput, low latency and high security over a public 5G network. Delivering a first in the Swedish market.
“Being the first with this type of broadcast via the 5G network in such a large and significant event as the Stockholm Marathon was a lot of fun!” said Haval van Drumpt, CEO of Three Sweden. “This clearly shows the breadth of use the latest 5G technology makes possible, and which will characterize much of both media production and sports entertainment in the future.”
Nora Wahby, head of Ericsson’s North and Central Europe customer unit said slicing will create new business opportunities for network operators and transform live broadcasting for the TV and broadcasting industry.
“It will enable immersive experiences across traditional broadcasting such as second scene virtual reality, ultra-high-definition services, and on-site live event experiences,” she noted. “5G standalone with network slicing will significantly reshape media production and enrich sports entertainment in the future,” she concluded.
Mobilelinks’ journey to reliable livestreaming
Not only will 5G broadcasting deliver new service possibilities, but it is far more efficient and cost-effective for broadcasters compared to traditional satellite broadcasting, as it eliminates the need for large on-site crews, extra gear and costly satellite links. The new network slicing technique for broadcasting means mobile operators such as Three Sweden can deliver high-quality and lag-free video to audiences even in locations where there are large crowds and significant mobile network traffic.
In previous years, Mobilelinks had to utilize multiple 4G subscriptions from several different operators in parallel to get sufficient capacity for livestreaming. But to ensure a more reliable and secure transmission, it wanted to trial 5G slicing.
“We decided to work with the operator that had the best coverage along the track and could also provide the technology,” said Andreas Langell, CEO, Mobilelinks. “In previous races, we noticed that up to 70% of the transmission was being carried by Three, as the transmission units automatically select the best carrier for the traffic. This gave us a good indication of who we should approach,” he said.
Langell was impressed by the performance and capacity they were able to get from Three using 5G slicing. “It made transmission far more reliable,” he noted.
According to Ericsson research, the network slicing for broadcasting and streaming is projected to increase revenues by up to USD33 billion by 2030. While the broader application of slicing is anticipated to yield up to USD200 billion over the same period.
Ericsson says 5G broadcasting offers new business opportunities for mobile service providers, such as slice-on-a-SIM solutions or resource reservation services, with the potential for partnerships with content capture players, camera providers, and event space owners.
Broadcasters prioritizing reliability and efficiency for their services are willing to pay a premium for consistent service, the company says, demonstrating the true value of 5GSA monetization.
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