5G technology has proven itself capable of production, yet scaling it remains the real hurdle. Broadcast engineers now face a critical challenge: managing congestion reliably enough to trust 5G for high-stakes live sports coverage.
The IBC Accelerator project titled “Network Control: Your Connection, Your Choice” tackles this exact problem. Champions include BBC, RAI, Vodafone, EBU, GSMA, France Television, RTL Germany, DAZN, and TV2, with participants Neutral Wireless, SliceFinity, LiveU, Vonage, and Haivision. The University of Strathclyde serves as academic partner.
Current approaches rely on fragmented APIs that lack cross-network consistency, giving production teams little reason to integrate them. Meanwhile, the GSMA Open Gateway initiative transforms telecom networks into developer-friendly platforms using standardized CAMARA APIs under the Linux Foundation. This project specifically tests whether CAMARA’s quality-on-demand API can dynamically adjust device and traffic priority, protecting critical feeds during network congestion.
Sam Yoffe, senior systems engineer at Neutral Wireless, points out that video dominated early discussions, but stadium environments revealed a bigger pain point: wireless intercom systems. Conversations between broadcasters and operators shaped priorities throughout the project.
From RTL Germany’s perspective, Jens Schilder emphasizes reliability as non-negotiable. A connection must perform identically whether a stadium sits empty or hosts tens of thousands of spectators. If quality-on-demand delivers that stability through dynamic API activation, it becomes a powerful production tool.
Morten Brandstrup, TV2’s head of news technology, describes reaching a tipping point where multi-camera, low-latency productions could run on 5G, but only with predictable network performance. Jack Bulpin from Vodafone explains that while private networks offer reliability, they prove expensive and inflexible. Quality-on-demand offers something more elegant: software requesting specific network performance exactly when needed, with advance booking possible in the future.
Neutral Wireless has worked with GSMA to publish a statement of requirement highlighting broadcast industry needs to network operators. The project won’t conclude at IBC. Brandstrup confirms plans to showcase findings across European countries, building wider interest in this communication approach. A rolling snowball effect, he suggests, starts here.
