MCS Team Relies on Webbing eSIMs for Live Coverage of the G20 Summit in India

by Webbing

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The Business Impact of Webbing:

• Continuous connectivity in changing environments
• Improved flexibility and mobility
• Ensured efficiency of cellular bonding for high-bandwidth streaming
• Guaranteed coverage in every region
• Streamlined logistics and cost savings

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Internet performance and stability are among the main challenges that companies doing live event broadcasts have to face. Even the most state-of-the-art equipment critically depends on the internet connection it uses for data transmission, and an unreliable connection can ruin the whole project.

That’s why live TV coverage of major events demands innovative connectivity solutions with the focus on ensuring a stable, secure, and flexible internet connection.

 

 

MCS Team’s Role in Delivering Innovative TV Coverage

MCS Team GmbH is a full-service media production company with extensive expertise and experience in broadcasting live events. While employed by German broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), a member of the ARD network Das Erste, MCS Team was tasked with delivering live TV coverage of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, held on September 9-10, 2023. MCS Team is a wholly owned subsidiary of MDR, and to strengthen their technological competence and ensure a smooth integration of innovative technologies, the two companies worked on the project in close collaboration.

The Business Need:

• Stable and powerful connection for live TV reporting
• Flexibility and simplified logistics for reporting teams
• Security for sensitive data
• Full compliance with regulations

 

Connectivity Challenges at the G20 Summit

Real-time TV reporting requires a reliable and fast internet connection, which is challenging in venues with limited or no access to fixed communication infrastructure such as where the G20 Summit was held. This is further complicated by the fact that the Summit schedule included events at multiple locations in 60 Indian cities in all 28 states and 8 union territories. With more than 100 000 participants from 135 nationalities, dozens of working and engagement groups and hundreds of meetings happening over the course of two days, the Summit was one of the largest ever. Most stringent security measures were in place, such as restrictions on traffic in New Delhi, no-fly zone and even jamming of mobile signals at certain locations, making the aspects of logistics and connectivity even more challenging.

With traditional connections being inadequate to meet the demands of mobility and flexibility, the specialists from MCS Team were searching for technology that would be powerful as well as secure and flexible. While cellular connectivity is a reasonable choice, as multiple mobile networks are available and broadcasting wouldn’t rely on a single network, the overall solution was complex and required MCS Team experts to combine several innovative products.

Project Challenges:

• No access to fixed communication infrastructure
• Many events at different locations
• Security restrictions on mobile connectivity
• Local connectivity and data sovereignty regulations

 

 

Webbing eSIM Transforms Live Broadcasting

To ensure stable internet connection for live coverage, MCS Team chose to use Webbing triple-cut eSIM cards, allowing for independent use of various carrier networks. These eSIMs, with WebbingCNCT profiles that provide seamless connectivity in over 190 countries, were integrated into Peplink and LiveU devices bonding multiple internet connections. Mobile bonding technology uses multiple cellular modems combining available cellular signals to provide better connection stability and more bandwidth, ensuring smoother broadcast. While Peplink devices facilitated the efficient bonding of various internet connections, resulting in a stable and powerful overall connection, LiveU 5G/4G field units with Webbing SIMs were used to provide consistent bandwidth and a reliable connectivity for live 4K/HD quality video production. Webbing’s distributed core network with local breakouts, multiple network solutions, and data server redundancy ensures high data throughput and low latency for field units with cellular bonding technology.

Webbing’s Solution:

• Triple-cut eSIM cards fully aligned with GSMA SGP.32 IoT eSIM Standard
• Access to 48 local mobile carriers’ networks in India for continuous connectivity
• Simple and quick implementation: up and running in less than 30 minutes
• Management portal to monitor data usage and control connectivity

This combination opened an entirely new dimension of data transmission. Webbing eSIMs, working independently of a specific network operator, provided an additional layer of security and allowed flexible usage in different regions and under changing conditions. Webbing’s partner network of over 600 mobile operators worldwide guarantees global coverage and access to several carriers’ network in every region to solve the problem of weak spots and ensure continuous connectivity for broadcasting production teams even at remote locations.Another advantage of using Webbing triple-cut eSIM cards was that there was no need to purchase local operators’ SIM cards on-site, which would have been a major problem. It significantly eased logistics and planning for the project, while ensuring timely provisioning. Webbing’s eSIMs (eUICC) are available either as a physical SIM card with an eSIM profile or as MFF2 chip. It ensures failover connectivity with the capability of using multiple mobile carrier profiles, easily changing carriers at any time with zero integration, and an option to fall back from a failing profile to a different profile.

All live streams and broadcasts were successfully realized through LiveU devices seamlessly integrated into the overall system. With Webbing eSIMs, field units used for broadcast operations and live coverage on-the-go delivered high bandwidth and ultra-low latency.

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