BARCELONA: La Liga champions FC Barcelona will be working alongside its official telecom partners, Telefonica and the Spanish government backed technology park, Mobile World Capital to make Camp Nou the first-ever sports stadium in Europe powered with the 5G network.
Known as the ‘5GStadium Project’, it is a part of the ‘5G Barcelona programme’ to consolidate the city as the leading 5G hub in Europe. The deployment of this technology both in the stands and on the playing field, using Telefónica’s commercial band and a standard 3GPP Ericsson network, will enable the exploration of new and more immersive ways of enjoying sports events from home as if actually being in the stadium.
At an event on Tuesday, Telefónica and FC Barcelona beamed live images of the Camp Nou to the Mobile World Congress. A video also showed exclusive content from the first team training session at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, and a virtual tour of the stadium to showcase how 5G technology can revolutionise the way sports content is shown on television.
The placement of 360º cameras in different places around the Camp Nou without the need for cables means an immersive experience can be relayed to any home viewer. With Virtual Reality (VR) glasses, the spectator will be able to watch the match from the directors’ box, from behind a goal, by the benches, or from any viewpoint at any given time.
Once this technology is fully operative, they will be able to watch and listen to the game as if they were on the field. 5G technology also boosts video flows between 30 Mbps and up to 200 Mbps because of the qualities of 360º in 4K, while a streaming server placed on the closest edge of the mobile network to the users means that multiple spectators with 360º goggles can be immersed in the greatest viewing experience available today on mobile devices.
FC Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu stated: “At FC Barcelona it makes us very proud that the Camp Nou is the first football stadium in Europe with internal 5G coverage. The Camp Nou is the largest stadium in Europe. It holds more than 90,000 spectators and when Espai Barça is finished the capacity will rise to 105,000. Thanks to this agreement between FC Barcelona and GSMA, in partnership with Telefónica, we have made the Camp Nou a laboratory for innovation in the most advanced technology in mobile telephony, 5G”.
Telefónica Spain President Emilio Gayo added: “At Telefónica we are convinced that connectivity is the oxygen of the digital world in which we are immersed, and the new capabilities of the 5G network will be essential in this new generation of services. Watching a world-class football match live is not a privilege that everyone can enjoy, and this project means we can dream of offering our customers the chance to take a front seat at sporting events”.
