Faster Olympics Broadcasting
It takes no more than 0.2 seconds for the videos filmed at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, which was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August 5 (local time), to be transmitted to South Korea. Even though the films travel about 28,000km through Los Angeles in the US, the Pacific, Japan and Busan, they remain unaffected by weather fluctuations including rain so that they are never cut off or slowed down.
The outcome is attributed to an international broadcast relay network that KT had completed to establish in July 26. Based on the underwater cables dedicated to the Rio Olympics’ broadcasting network for its domestic audiences, the Korean mobile carrier has established a broadcasting network of covering the international segment between South Korea and Brazil via multiple channels. The main and reserve transmission lines are designed to be four, while additional transmission lines for restoration are designed to be six given that extra restoration is required in the event of cable breakdown.
South Korea has utilized submarine cables in broadcasting big sports events since the 2006 FIFA World cup held in Germany. Earlier, the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics or the 1982 FIFA World Cup held in Spain was broadcast through communication satellites.
Undersea cables generally made of six to eight optical fibers are able to transmit 60 to 160 terabytes. A single fiber of one eighth mm thinner than a hair allows each of 2.5 million viewers to simultaneously enjoy videos in different HD (8Mbps), and approximately 3,500 movies (700MB a movie) can be transmitted just in one second. It is 53,000 times larger and faster than a satellite in terms of transmission capacity and speed. If we broadcast via satellites covering the Korea-Brazil segment, it would take 0.5 seconds, 0.3 seconds slower than via undersea cables. Submarine cables are handling about 99 percent of the amount of international data transmission including the Internet thanks to its stability and efficiency.