Telecom Italia (TIM) has joined forces with Eutelsat and Broadpeak to trial multicast signal distribution over satellite.
The trial employed the TIMVision box in Adaptative Bit Rate (ABR) multicast mode, Eutelsat’s Konnect satellite, which provides internet services in Europe, and Broadpeak’s nanoCDN solution for content distribution.
Multicast functionality enables broadcasting and media companies to stream live events without needing to duplicate transmission flows.
According to the companies, this means the same content can be distributed simultaneously to connected users without taking up additional network and transmission resources, while also ensuring the simultaneous availability of adequate bandwidth for all other satellite services.
“The testing has shown that the benefits of multicast transmission in terms of quality and network resource savings,” said Crescenzo Micheli, TIM’s head of technology and innovation, “This means that live content can be streamed, even at 4K resolution, with the same quality as a fibre connection, without restrictions linked to the number of simultaneous viewers.”
“Satellite has a clear potential in the distribution of video streaming technology, especially for large areas with limited internet connections,” added Damien Sterkers, video solutions marketing director at Broadpeak.
“Based on the multicast principle, it can totally offload from the network the peaks of streaming traffic typically generate by highly popular live events and secure a virtually unlimited quality to an unlimited number of users in the covered area.”