Virgin Media O2 and Ericsson have partnered to enable the remote play of Hado, an augmented reality esport, at Comic Con in Birmingham.
Network enabled competitors were able to play the game in real time with teams located in both the US and Korea. The same network slicing capability was also used to broadcast the tournament live from Comic Con to viewers around the world on the Hado Channel.
The trial saw the augmented reality esport, Hado, run on a dedicated slice on Virgin Media O2’s 5G standalone network, which enabled remote play and live broadcasting. The network slice guaranteed the required bandwidth, latency, and jitter.
It also provided a stable, secure and reliable communications platform that enabled the live broadcast of the games to thousands of viewers worldwide. With the live broadcast requiring a consistent upload speed, the network slice was able to provide this and ensure the best possible experience for viewers.
Jim Sephton, Managing Director of Hado UK said: “5G standalone and network slicing will be game changers for the gaming industry. The ability to compete with people from all around the world and break down previous geographical limitations will have a real positive impact for Hado and other esports like it. It was particularly impressive that all of this was possible at a location as busy as Comic Con.”
With more than 8,000 visitors descending on the NEC for the three-day Comic Con event, the network slice secured the necessary and exclusive network capacity for the Hado game. This ensured that even at times of the day when the public network was being used by thousands of users, the network slice ensured Hado had the necessary capacity for remote play and live broadcast.
Jorge Ribeiro, Director of Service Platform Strategy & Engineering at Virgin Media O2, said: “We are delighted to have enabled this ground-breaking event using our next generation 5G network. This is further evidence of the impact that network slicing can have on a range of industries.”
Remote ReRemote play and live broadcast took place over Virgin Media O2’s 5G standalone network using a Cradlepoint R1900 device that supports 5G SA and network slicing on the 3.5GHz band. Virgin Media O2 configured the network slice end-to-end through the Ericsson-powered radio and core network; and was able to provision Hado’s SIM Cards to be able to access it in a matter of minutes.
