ITV has signed a five-year contract with BT, which will supply the broadcaster with a digital broadcast network across the UK. The next generation network will connect ITV’s 13 major broadcasting sites to its data centres, enabling them to transfer large amounts of data and uncompressed HD video between sites, at speeds of up to 10Gbit/s.
The X-net network is expected to be in place by spring next year and will be based on BT Wholesale’s new broadcast-specific wavelength technology and Ethernet services. It will support compressed media and data links between 32 smaller ITV sites and news bureaus, and will be managed from BT Wholesale’s International Media Centre at BT Tower, London (pictured).
“This is an exciting time for the media industry, as consumers demand more and more content in a variety of formats,” said Mark Wilson-Dunn, BT Wholesale’s Global Sales and Marketing director for BT Media and Broadcast. “It also presents a huge challenge for broadcasters, as the market opportunities and their own capabilities are developing rapidly, so we’re delighted that ITV has chosen BT to support them on that journey.”
ITV Broadcast’s financial director, William Medlicott, said: “Today’s audiences want to watch quality content wherever and whenever they choose using a variety of platforms, and our broadcast network must be flexible in order to meet this demand. BT’s network solution will help us deliver content ready for transmission quickly and effectively across ITV and the variety of partners we collaborate with on a daily basis.”
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