COLT Telecom Group plc (COLT), European provider of business communication services, and AirFiber, developer of high capacity wireless telecommunications equipment, together with MTV Networks Europe announced today that they will collaborate in the provision of network support services for the MTV Europe Music Awards 2002. The show will be broadcast today and supported by core network service offerings from COLT and AirFiber, working in collaboration with MTV Networks Europe.
"The MTV Europe Music Awards is our flagship event and is broadcast to 107 million people across Europe," explains Cory Branton-Speak, network architect for MTV Networks Europe. "For a show of this caliber to be successful, it is critical that we have reliable high-bandwidth communication links between the event's location and our head offices. The links are used both to satisfy the data communication needs associated with organizing a production of this magnitude and also for distributing production quality video between countries in real-time. COLT and AirFiber have been instrumental in providing this."
COLT is providing a range of high bandwidth data and video services as well as voice from two sites in London over its pan-European network to Barcelona. AirFiber is assisting in the COLT connection of the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona via a wireless connection to the COLT node, located more than a kilometer away. AirFiber's equipment, known as the AirFiber 5800, utilizes free space optics to directly connect two points wirelessly. This is an optical wireless solution where spectrum licensing is not required.
"This deployment demonstrates our ability to quickly provide reliable high bandwidth services to areas that under normal circumstances would not benefit from fiber," adds Brett Helm, president and chief executive officer of AirFiber. "The AirFiber 5800 can be ideal for a temporary situation such as this, among other applications."
A case study and white paper discussing the MTV Europe application and the services provided by COLT (London) and AirFiber (San Diego, CA) will be available within the next week on the COLT web site at www.colt.net and the AirFiber web site at www.airfiber.com.