Private 5G unlocks new creative possibilities at European Athletics Championships
Private 5G enabled new creative approaches to live sports coverage at the European Athletics Championships, with four camera operators riding electric monowheels delivering continuous live pictures from the race walk over a dedicated Neutral Wireless network.
Working with official host broadcaster Actua, Neutral Wireless deployed private 5G infrastructure across both Alexander Stadium, and the city-centre race walk course, supporting the host broadcast production alongside additional connectivity and workflows for international broadcasters.
The race walk provided the most visible demonstration of the creative flexibility private 5G can bring to live production. Four monowheel riders followed the athletes around the 1 km city-centre course carrying Panasonic mirrorless cameras mounted on gimbals and connected to LiveU LU800 field units.
Each unit used the Neutral Wireless private 5G network as its sole connectivity path, continuously transmitting a 20 Mbps 1080i50 video feed back to the production facility. All four feeds were integrated into the programme and received significant live-to-air usage throughout the race.
The combination of lightweight cameras, highly mobile operators and dedicated wireless connectivity gave the production team the freedom to move with the athletes and capture perspectives that would be difficult to achieve with conventional fixed camera positions. The approach also demonstrates the potential for lighter, less intrusive production methods with a relatively small physical and environmental footprint.
Matt Stagg, Strategy & Partnerships at Neutral Wireless, said:
“The exciting thing about private 5G now isn’t the network itself; it’s what it allows creative teams to do. The monowheels are a brilliant example. They gave the production team the freedom to move with the athletes and capture the race in a really dynamic way, while the connectivity simply sat underneath it and worked.
“This isn’t about replacing established production techniques. It’s about adding new creative possibilities. The conversation is moving from ‘can private 5G support live broadcast?’ to ‘what can we do differently because we have it?’”
Behind the pictures was a private 5G network designed around the demands of the 1 km race route through central Birmingham. Neutral Wireless deployed four 40 MHz cells using a total of 80 MHz of spectrum, providing more than 75 Mbps of uplink capacity anywhere on the course, with individual cells covering approximately 200 metres to ensure a rock-solid connection.
Despite the coverage and capacity provided, the physical network footprint was small. Neutral Wireless’ portable Nessie integrated gNB and 5G core was located within the technical area, with just three fibre runs to the remote cell locations. The race walk site was connected back to the MCR at Alexander Stadium, allowing the four moving camera feeds to be directly incorporated into the live production alongside the other cabled cameras.
The private 5G deployment extended beyond the race walk. At Alexander Stadium, Neutral Wireless provided coverage across the main stadium and warm-up areas, supporting the host broadcaster operation alongside additional international broadcast requirements.
Neutral Wireless deployed two 40 MHz carriers to cover the field of play along with an additional 20 MHz service within the TOC and media compound, providing an environment where broadcast teams could connect and test equipment before moving into the live coverage areas.
In addition to the high-priority host broadcast feeds, a dedicated (lower-priority) APN was used by broadcasters including NRK, YLE and STV to supplement bonded-cellular efforts, demonstrating how common private 5G infrastructure can support distinct users and production workflows while maintaining separation between services.
The network also supported bidirectional production workflows, including return video originating from international MCRs and delivered to users at the event. This demonstrated how private 5G can act not simply as a means of getting camera pictures out of a venue, but as the local connectivity layer within increasingly distributed production workflows.
Franck Choquard, Director of Actua, said:
“Working with Neutral Wireless at the European Athletics Championships perfectly demonstrated how private 5G unlocks incredible creative flexibility. The electric monowheel cameras gave us the freedom to move right alongside the athletes, capturing dynamic, close-up perspectives that conventional fixed positions simply couldn't reach. Having a dedicated, rock-solid network gave our team complete confidence in the connectivity, even for high-priority live-to-air feeds. Just as importantly, the infrastructure proved its value by seamlessly supporting multiple distinct production requirements across the event, from our core host broadcast needs to international workflows, proving it is a versatile tool for the future of sports broadcasting.”
For Neutral Wireless, the Championships demonstrated how private 5G is progressing from trials and demonstrations towards becoming an established part of the live production toolkit.
Stagg added:
“Ultimately, nobody watching at home needs to know there’s a private 5G network involved. They just see great pictures. That’s where we want the technology to be reliable infrastructure sitting quietly underneath the production, giving creative teams more freedom to tell the story.”
About Neutral Wireless
Neutral Wireless develops and deploys private 5G networks designed for demanding live broadcast and event environments. Its technology provides dedicated, high-capacity wireless connectivity for cameras, production devices, and other critical applications. www.neutralwireless.com
About Actua
From breaking news to live sports, Actua brings the world’s most compelling moments to screens globally. Combining over 70 years of broadcasting heritage with cutting-edge technology, Actua is a trusted pioneer in TV production, live transmission, and post-production, operating from key hubs in Geneva and Paris. Find out more: https://www.actuafilms.com/