More Than 200 LiveU Bonded-Cellular Systems To Be in Use at World Cup
The FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil will be a showcase for LiveU’s bonded cellular technology as more than 200 LiveU units will be deployed in the 12 host cities across Brazil by media companies from more than 30 countries.
LiveU units will offer live video transmission, as well as hot spot connectivity via the new LiveU DataBridge solution, which turns any LiveU unit into a bonded cellular hotspot for any kind of Internet usage on any device. LiveU’s support team will be on the ground in the different locations, offering onsite 24/7 support in multiple languages during the tournament.
The World Cup deployments continue LiveU’s streak of playing a role at major events since the company made its debut at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with NBC. LiveU subsequently deployed more than 30 units at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and more than 150 units at the London 2012 Olympics. It also had strong presence in the Sochi and Vancouver Winter Games. During the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, dozens of LiveU units successfully transmitted from numerous host cities across the country.
LiveU will provide onsite support at all the main venues in Brazil both directly and through its local partner, UCAN Digital Transmission. LiveU will deploy its entire portfolio of uplink solutions including its backpack and camera-mount cellular bonding devices such as the LU500 and its signal boost Xtender external antennas.
According to Eldad Eitelberg, Director of UCAN, LiveU units are easy to operate and will help Brazilian and foreign journalists to be fast as they can, “with just one camera and a backpack, the information arrives to its destination quickly”, he says.
Customers will include global sports and news networks, news agencies, local stations, and online broadcasters from almost every participating country in the tournament. All units in the field can be controlled directly by the operator, or remotely from the studio in the home country via the browser-based LiveU Central management system.
TERRA, the largest Internet company in Latin America will use LiveU technology during the World Cup. Allan Pessoa, Technology Manager with TERRA, says, “Our goal is to be very dynamic, delivering great content with solid facts. LiveU provides us with the mobility and technology to do that.” The content will be available on TERRA’s web site (www.terra.com.br) for multiscreen viewing. TERRA and UCAN expect to reach more than 80 million people in Latin America by using LiveU solutions.
Ronen Artman, LiveU’s VP Marketing, says, “This is a tremendous opportunity for media companies – be that broadcast or online or a combination of the two – to show how dynamic they can be in what’s a very competitive arena.”
LiveU owns the patent for cellular bonding for remote news gathering in the US and other countries. All LiveU products are based on this fourth-generation patented technology.