Globecast launches 100G fibre network in Europe to satisfy bandwidth-heavy media transport including remote production

Paris, 16 February 2023 — Globecast has announced that it is significantly expanding its European fibre backbone – part of the company’s global fibre network GCBN – to 100G from March this year to satisfy ever-growing bandwidth requirements. It is working in partnership with Net Insight, using its technology at POPs and customer sites to ensure maximum quality via very low latency and the tight synchronisation of feeds, vital in edge processing for remote production.

Sebastien Fauzan, Director of Marketing and Business Development for Sport and Live with Globecast, said, “GCBN features in a huge number of projects across contribution, distribution and our media supply chain services. It’s a global Ethernet backbone network, mostly supplied by Globecast parent company Orange and expanding the capacity is crucial given the continued growth in things like remote production and the use of 4K. It empowers our customers to satisfy viewer requirements in an ever more competitive environment.”

Globecast is initially upgrading GCBN in Europe – specifically POPs in London, Frankfurt and Paris. Other regions will follow this year. Globecast supplies a seamless, end-to-end service, including the first and last miles, which are architected on a case-by-case basis. Globecast connects the event site to GCBN and then delivers the feed(s) to whomever requires it, be that a physical remote production centre, into the cloud for remote production or any other processing, or direct to a broadcaster.

To ensure low latency and the tight synchronisation of feeds, Globecast is using Net Insight’s Nimbra 1060 core processing technology at relevant points in the network. With timing-awareness, different video feeds can be aligned in time upon delivery, enabling synchronised playout for use cases such as remote production and primary distribution. Furthermore, IP-based synchronisation using PTP can be extended over wide area networks, enabling distributed production or remote production in any location.

Globecast is also introducing the concept of Net Centres, which are points of presence at major international datacentres – initially in Paris and London – that operate alongside direct termination at a Globecast Media Centre. The Net Centres increase the options for customers at a very cost-effective price point.

Fauzan added, “This isn’t only a case of increasing the bandwidth available, it’s about providing a seamless, low latency, tightly synchronised network designed to empower today’s complex services. By partnering with Net Insight and by using the latest compression technologies, we provide our customers with the flexibility and QoS they need to compete successfully.”