Press Release
Award-winning telecoms provider Southern Communications recently created a bespoke solution to allow global media streaming for the first Bloodhound SSC test run, one of the largest STEM projects in the UK.
Working in a remote location with only five days to install and test the system on the temporary site, Southern’s engineers were able to supply reliable WiFi and connectivity for the World Land Speed Record as it was achieved, which featured extreme peaks in traffic.
Bloodhound’s supersonic car designed to reach 1,000mph reached 200 mph on the test day, a historic event highlighting the success of British engineering. With the telecoms set-up, it was shared with the world via national and local TV coverage, global streaming and a high level of social media sharing from attendees.
Rising to the challenge
Southern Communications delivered robust and capable communications with big data capture and machine to machine communications. This involved understanding the capacity required for visitors and media, as well as predicting peaks in traffic when the car finished it’s run, as well as ensuring it was ready within a tight timescale.
The remote location in Newquay, Cornwall required new circuits, multi-tenant solutions, and metro hubs to achieve sufficient bandwidth for the event, and high volume deployments were rolled out for the WiFi. This was supported by Openreach, Cisco and the Efar NoC.
Tony Parraman from the Bloodhound team states, “The Southern Communications solution enabled us to share our successful test-runs with thousands of people – without a hitch.”
Paul Bradford, CEO, Southern Communications states, “Our team are always dedicated to providing the best communications solution based on a business or event’s aims and unique situation.
This project involved a number of our engineers creating a bespoke communications environment which delivered on all aspects and allowed for seamless global live streaming and news coverage throughout the event.”
SMART-Hub technology
One of the core technological features of the solution was the use of portable SMART-Hub boxes, which were set-up in the core areas of the remote site – the shop, media centre, and exhibition hall. Not only did the boxes increase coverage, they allowed Southern Communications to monitor traffic on the network so they could control its flow and allow the most important traffic to take priority.
In total, over 115 Gb of data was transmitted to over 1000 connected WiFi devices. Worldwide there was an audience of millions.
Southern Communications are based in Hampshire and have over 50 years experience in communications.
They can be reached by calling 01256 391 046 or by visiting https://www.southern-comms.co.uk/.
