T-Systems carried live coverage of the Turin Winter Olympics from 10 to 26 February 2006 over digital fibre and satellite networks. Its customers included Japan’s NHK consortium, Canada’s CBC, Switzerland’s SRG SSR idée suisse, the European Broadcasting Union, ARD and ZDF.
Most customers used ATM broadcast services over fibre. T-Systems established several high-speed circuits between Turin and Frankfurt, then routed signals to Japan and Canada over Deutsche Telekom’s global fibre network in real time.
For the EBU, three newly equipped satellite vehicles each supplied four simultaneous 36 MHz transmission frequencies, with an additional transmission unit for redundancy. One vehicle could support up to 16 concurrent 8 Mbit/s links, allowing EBU members to select the required pictures and sound.
A mobile HDTV satellite unit served Japanese broadcasters, receiving productions from team accommodation, interviews and victory celebrations. Contributions travelled over ATM to Frankfurt and then through an intercontinental circuit to Tokyo.
For ARD and ZDF, T-Systems connected ATM paths to Hybnet, the German public broadcasters’ high-speed network. Material was distributed to ZDF in Mainz and ARD operations in Munich, Cologne and Potsdam for main programmes and specialist outlets including ZDF-Infokanal and ARD’s live ticker.
