In our series introducing the ONE4HDD consortium partners we turn the spotlight on Ateme to discuss efficiency, scalability and monetisation.

Tell us about the role Ateme plays in the ONE4HDD project?

Ateme is in charge of the encoding and packaging component for the ONE4HDD solution. In addition, Ateme is exploring an advanced service layer, leveraging both 5G point-to-point and point-to-multipoint transmissions to increase robustness and scalability and offering enriched services.

What unique experience and expertise does Ateme bring to the consortium?

Ateme's TITAN Live high-density video processing solution is being utilised for efficient compression and packaging of audio and video feeds. TITAN Live's versatility allows it to handle multiple real-time streams simultaneously and is flexible for deployment in various environments, including MEC infrastructure.

What are you most excited about for the ONE4HDD project?

This project offers a very first 5G Multicast Broadcast Service (5MBS) implementation with a very high Technology Readiness Level (TRL), paving the way for new, enriched experiences in venues and increasing fan engagement.

What do you think makes this a gamechanger?

There have been several attempts to deploy mobile broadcast in the past, based on various technologies, derived from DTT standards or from 4G. The issue has always been the unavailability of end devices supporting the function. ONE4HDD is focusing on achieving mobile broadcast with commercial smartphones, off the shelf, without requiring additional hardware or firmware. Solving the device availability challenge would tremendously enlarge perspectives and possible use cases.

How does your company's involvement align with your overall business strategy and vision for the future?

Ateme develops solutions that power sustainable TV services and generate new revenue streams based on personalisation and ad insertion. Mobile Broadcast is an important technology to distribute high quality services in a dense environment, in a sustainable and scalable way. Designing an advanced service layer will help offering Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) in a multicast environment, which is a key feature for monetisation.

Tell us more about the importance of cross-industry collaboration in unlocking the potential of technology.

All actors from the value chain are required, from the content owners, the technology providers to the network operator.  Technology providers could first perform an end-to-end validation of the technology in lab, but all are required to evaluate its commercial potential for fan engagement by deploying it during real events.

How important is the role of government funding in ensuring the above?

Some aspects of the project are exploratory and require a collective and managed effort from the different partners. At the same time, we are targeting a high level of maturity for the solution, in a short time span.  Such outcomes would be difficult to achieve without the support of the government.

What long-term impact do you hope your contributions to this consortium will have?

This project is pioneer of the 5MBS technology and could be decisive to shape this emerging market.