Bridge Alliance, AIS, Singtel, and Summit Tech achieve 360 degree interactive livestreaming with remote audiences through Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) federation

• Field trial conducted with a 360 degree interactive live event streamed from Montreal with remote audiences participating on their 5G smartphones and VR devices in Singapore and Bangkok
• Bridge Alliance Federated Edge Hub (FEH) testbed is now ready and invites more partners for field trials

Bridge Alliance, Advanced Info Service (AIS), Singtel, and Summit Tech have successfully conducted an edge-to-edge interconnection across telecom operators in Singapore and Thailand, validated through a 360 degree interactive livestreaming use case. With this achievement, a FEH testbed for this service is now ready for more trials with application partners to unlock new commercial use cases powered by multi-market MEC and 5G.

Leveraging AIS and Singtel 5G networks and tapping on AIS’ 5GNEXTGen Platform and Singtel’s Paragon Platform, a live music performance in Montreal was broadcast in 8K to audiences in Bangkok and Singapore in January 2023. This was achieved after both MEC platforms were interconnected via the Bridge Alliance Federated Edge Hub (FEH). Through their smartphones and headsets, they viewed the performance on Summit Tech’s Odience immersive and interactive virtual reality (VR) 360 livestreaming platform, which leverages 5G and MEC to provide bandwidth-efficient streams to mobile devices and wearables. A poll conducted at the event found that the audience experience was extremely positive, with the majority finding it superior to traditional streaming.

The use case demonstrates the potential of low latency applications that leverage edge-to-edge interactions in multiple markets. FEH serves as a truly global collaboration platform for cross market 5G, MEC and web 3.0 applications like the metaverse, by allowing Bridge Alliance member operators to interconnect with other mobile operators worldwide. Meanwhile, application providers like Summit Tech can utilise the Bridge Alliance FEH simple discovery APIs from CAMARA, a joint initiative between GSMA and the Linux Foundation, to discover and order multi-market edge resources for field trials.

Applications of two-way interactive livestreaming

Unlike one-way streaming, features in real-time two-way video streaming add much more value and excitement to participants by enabling them to interact with the performance. They can appear on video walls at the venue, socialise by chatting and holding in-app video calls with others attending the event virtually and even make transactions. Ecommerce payments and supplementary information on the performance can be delivered via embedded QR codes and AI image recognition, while polls and gamification during the event further increase the engagement.

The success of this edge-to-edge interconnection and interactive livestreaming use case has significant real-world applications and commercial impact for not only consumers, but also businesses involved in concerts, livestream shopping, sports and eSports.

Dr Ong Geok Chwee, CEO of Bridge Alliance, said, “We’re very honoured to be part of this successful trial. As a leading mobile alliance, Bridge Alliance is committed to enabling multi-market use cases and removing friction to enable application providers to seamlessly provision telco edge resources across many countries. We drive 5G initiatives such as the development of our FEH, a platform which helps remove barriers in accessing edge resources across markets. We continually collaborate with partners in accelerating immersive multi-market use cases and welcome more of you, including potential commercial customers to join us!”

Mr Tanapong Ittisakulchai, Chief Enterprise Business Officer, AIS, said, “As part of this successful trial, we are very honoured to partner with leading organisations like Bridge Alliance, Singtel, GSMA and Summit Tech to leverage our 5G NEXTGen Platform capability to unleash the limitation of live streaming across the region. This trial proves the readiness of AIS 5G network, digital infrastructure & platform which are now ready to serve the new emerging application market across a wide range of industries, including retail and property, manufacturing, transportation and logistics. We welcome application partners and value customers to cooperate in working together for your transformation and overcoming the digital disruption era together.”

Mr Tay Yeow Lian, Managing Director, Networks, Consumer Singapore, Singtel, said, “Our Singtel Paragon Platform offers network slicing, low-latency, and edge cloud computing capabilities that provide users with high-speed and seamless streaming experiences at live events across devices and two-way interactions with instream capabilities for live concerts, conferences, shopping, and more. This trial is just the first step to driving more immersive use cases for different industry verticals and enabling enterprises to deploy 5G MEC use cases worldwide. Together with our partners – AIS, Bridge Alliance, and GSMA, we will develop new APIs to make the deployment of next-generation applications fast, easy, and automated locally and globally.”

Mr Doug Makishima, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer (CSMO) of Summit Tech, said, “Edge computing represents the next phase of the digital transformation and is enabling key new applications that require maximum geographic reach. Our Odience 360 VR livestreaming platform is one such application where brands, artists, teams and enterprises want to reach their customers and audiences across different markets. We were very pleased to partner with Bridge Alliance, Singtel and AIS in this multi-edge trial using edge discovery APIs to successfully demonstrate cross-carrier MEC interoperability to extend the telco edge to a global footprint.”

Mr Henry Calvert, Head of Networks, GSMA, said, “We’re very excited to complete this GSMA Foundry Telco Edge Cloud trial with Bridge Alliance, Singtel, AIS and Summit Tech and bring the edge-to-edge interconnection project to life. The GSMA Foundry is all about our members and industry players working together on real-world solutions to industry challenges – nurturing new ideas through initial commercial trials – or scaling proven solutions at a regional and global level. In this instance, the project has highlighted that interactive 360-degree livestreaming can now be extended across countries for events such as concerts or sporting events.”

Call for application partners and interested business owners

The edge-to-edge interconnection is a step forward following from the hub-to-hub interconnection between two heterogeneous MECs that was announced in February 2022.

The FEH testbed for the interactive livestreaming service is now ready for more trials. Bridge Alliance invites both application partners and business owners keen on developing immersive experiences to collaborate and unlock new use cases leveraging on multi-market telco edge cloud and 5G networks.

For more information, visit https://www.gsma.com/foundry/bridge-alliance-federated-edge-hub/. To view a showcase of the use case, please visit the GSMA Pavilion (Hall 4, Stand 4F30) at MWC Barcelona.