For years, satellite transmission has been the tried and tested way for TV broadcasters to cover live, on-location, events such as the annual Vasaloppet. Held in late February to early March each year, it involves competitors following the same 90km route that Gustav Vasa, who later became king of Sweden, used to escape his Danish captors on skis in 1521 before returning to lead a rebellion.
 

For the second year in a row, Ericsson has partnered with Swedish broadcaster SVT to demonstrate its cross-platform Me-On-TV content-gathering and publishing solution. Solution Manager Espen Børde says that Me-On-TV lets reporters transmit live video and audio with their handsets over any available mobile or WIFI network, at any time.
 

Me-On-TV, which uses the same packet-switched transmission scheme that broadband-enabled devices use to access the internet, was deployed over a High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) network for this year’s coverage of the Vasaloppet.
 

“What really distinguishes Me-On-TV is its end-to-end capability,” Børde says. This includes the Me-On-TV content-gathering and publishing solution that can process six feeds simultaneously, allowing producers to monitor each feed before airing.
  

Ericsson also debuted a new, integrated Wireless Multiplex Terminal (WMT) that delivers a professional camera uplink. The integrated WMT combines as many as four HSPA lines, which together can deliver a throughput stream of up to about 3Mbps, depending on network capability. Børde says Ericsson is testing this solution in the Stockholm area. 
 

“You can imagine the flexibility that this would give a news network, if the cameramen can carry everything they need to cover a live event on their shoulders,” he says.
 

Demonstrations such as the Vasaloppet broadcast are part of the concept’s continuing evolution, which Børde says will eventually enable Me-On-TV to be used on a regular basis in TV news production and other programming. “It is not yet capable of replacing satellite, though it does offer an interesting complement to live satellite coverage today,” he says. “The move toward LTE, however, will introduce higher quality, making this a relevant alternative to the satellite uplink.
 

“And it’s only a matter of time before the picture quality matches or exceeds that of satellite.”
 

Børde also points out that Me-On-TV offers operators an opportunity to package guaranteed level-of-service subscriptions for television broadcasters, opening up an entirely new stream of revenue from their networks.