Vogo’s video broadcasting service
moves to 5G stadiums
Vogo has been around since 2013. But it relied on wifi. And as a live multiplex video service for sports games, this was limiting. To figure out how their offer could evolve with a 5G connection, Vogo teams came to Orange 5G Lab. They got to experiment with our network of the future.
Imagine this. You’re seated in the grandstand. And you’re talking to the person next to you, whether chanting along or debating over the last action. So you look away from the field for just a second. And it happens. The best move of the whole game. The decisive goal. The fatal red card. Classic!
Behold Vogo. With a smartphone, their solution and a 5G network in the arena, you will never miss a key moment again. On your phone, you can watch and rewatch parts of the game from the angle of your choice, be it the camera on the pitch, the one near the net, that on the sidelines and more. Vogo turned to Orange 5G Lab with the will to collaborate. We wanted to innovate together, to expand the features of this multicasting service with the help of 5G.
Collaborative adaptation
The goal wasn’t a mere session of plug-and-play: it was to adapt the service during our workshops. So we advanced side by side on the architecture of the service, using Orange bricks. As Orange 5G Lab offers access to an experimental network to test its throughput, we were able to guide Vogo in instantiating its server on the Orange cloud platform.
This took several sessions over a course of a few months. Because it required configuring the solution’s parameters, we needed a number of iterations to adjust and correct after each try until we were happy with the results.
Working in collaboration at Orange 5G Lab gave Vogo a chance to develop a more performant, sometimes new, offer. With a 5G network, you can indeed increase traffic as well as the number of streamlines addressed to the viewers, you can upgrade video encoding and provide improved definition. All these capacities really refine what the sportech brings to the table when it comes to live broadcasting, instant replay options, slow-motion, zooming in and out, etc.
Full-scale testing at Roland Garros
Vogo has about 50 employees, among whom experts in solution and application development. What Orange 5G Lab supplies is our cutting-edge network, 5G terminals, but also marketing and technical support to push 5G-led innovations.
Our partnership was so successful that we took it all the way to a full-scale test. Late September, Vogo was able to lead a joint life-size trial at tennis tournament Roland Garros, in association with Orange, French public service France Televisions and the French Tennis Federation. Thanks to user feedback, the solution was fully optimized.
And since the summer of 2020, Vogo has integrated the Orange cloud platform. An international leader in the field of smart stadiums, the company is headed towards new 5G challenges.