LiveU: Bonded Cellular vs 5G

LiveU recently posted an article on their blog which was a response to an article posted on Broadcast Bridge, outlining the pros and cons of moving to 5G cellular services for field production. LiveU was very interested in seeing how Broadcast Bridge would approach cellular bonding to 5G broadcasting and productions. LiveU knew that when 5G was only a concept, they read several articles and had customers asking them if 5G would eliminate the need for cellular bonding. 

LiveU says no. They state that 5G was always a complement to what they were already doing. They worked with carriers and customers to test 5G in simulated environments, as well as real-world events.

Ned Soseman of Broadcast Bridge, goes through how 5G works, what are millimeter waves, and how the modems work in a remote production workflow, he concludes with a statement on non-bonded cellular modems vs bonded modems.

Cellular bonding is a proven technique for ensuring reliability in field production, and it can be used in conjunction with the latest cellular technologies, such as 5G, to provide even greater reliability and consistency. The ability to use multiple carriers, even if the technology is the same, and the ability to use two technologies at once, such as bonding 4G and 5G, can provide a redundancy that can ensure a reliable connection even in the event of network failure or congestion. Additionally, the ability to bond two connections within the same carrier and technology can provide a fail-safe mechanism in case of modem hardware failure, antenna position differences, or other issues.

Bonding is worth the investment as it enables remote production to be more affordable and sustainable as compared to traditional production methods. The high reliability of bonding, coupled with the low cost of cellular compared to other technologies, such as satellite, continue to provide the right combination to deliver a powerful live remote production solution.