10 Nov 2006: UEFA Video Service
Innovative online video service provides live UEFA Champions League football to fans globally
NTT Europe Online, a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com), today announced that it is providing content distribution and web infrastructure services to support UEFA’s groundbreaking online video service.
The UEFA Video Service has been developed by UEFA to enable its broadcast partners to extend their rights and provide live match coverage on the internet. Over 20 broadcasters around the world are using the service to make every UEFA Champions League match from the 2006/07 season and every UEFA Cup match from the quarter-final stage in April 2007 available live on the interneta s an IP Broadcast. As a result, more than 125 matches will be offered to football fans in over 100 countries.
“The UEFA Video Service provides our broadcasting partners with a high quality and secure platform that can be tailor-made for individual needs and local markets,” states Alexandre Fourtoy, CEO of UEFA Media Technologies. “Its successful development and implementation demonstrates UEFA's commitment to maintaining its position at the forefront of advances in the digital media sector."
The live video broadcasts, which are simultaneously transmitted over the Internet to end users via the appropriate broadcaster, are provided by a consortium of partners including NTT Europe Online, deltatre and Entriq. Innovative geographical targeting ensures that access to live matches is controlled to protect regional broadcaster rights, while NTT Com’s Smart Content Delivery (SCD) Network is used to deliver the premium content to viewers globally.
Alexandre Fourtoy continues: “NTT Europe Online has a proven track record of delivering reliable Internet services for UEFA, particularly during UEFA EURO 2004™. As the Internet evolves, NTT Europe Online and NTT Com have the foresight and commitment to continue developing technologies, enabling us to deliver new and exciting services online.”
Kazuhiro Nishihata, President of NTT Europe Online says: “This is a ground-breaking project, which includes both technical and pay media innovation. Other online media projects launched recently have been limited to a single country or a closed audience. Live and on-demand stream media is a rapidly expanding market and we will continue to invest in next generation technology, including multi-casting and enhanced content distribution services, which will enable us to support huge numbers of simultaneous users online.”
About UEFA Media Technologies
UEFA Media Technologies SA is the service company created by UEFA to provide all technology solutions, content solutions and assistance to ensure the development of European football, to explore and exploit all opportunities in the new media world and to assist the football family in their technology developments.
