Tata Communications becomes Official Broadcast Distribution Provider to Formula E World Championship

L-R: Jamie Reigle, Formula E and Amur Lakshminarayanan, Tata Communications

Formula E and Tata Communications have agreed a strategic multi-year relationship that sees the global commtech company becoming the Official Broadcast Distribution Provider to the FIA Formula E World Championship.

Tata Communications will deliver high-definition, high-resolution and high-speed live broadcast content to viewers around the world as part of Formula E’s new remote broadcast production of live races, reducing the environmental impact typical of major live international sports events on TV.

Tata Communications’ software-defined media edge platform will deliver more than 160 live video and audio signals from Formula E races across continents within milliseconds, using 26 media edge locations across North America, Europe and Asia.

The new super-fast race broadcast distribution will be supported by Tata Communications’ specially trained experts, providing round-the-clock global end-to-end managed services at all 16 races this season. Tata and Formula E are also working together to further enrich experiences for motorsport fans.

Jamie Reigle, CEO, Formula E, said: “Formula E is an intense tour given its on-the-go nature. Tata Communications’ support over the years has enabled state-of-the-art remote production, with real-time TV signal transmissions from the race venues to our broadcast centre in London and finally to the audience’s screens. Thus, bringing down multiple logistical challenges, driving cost efficiencies and travel flexibilities for our employees, and reducing emissions.”

Speaking at the first Formula E World Championship race in India, which took place on 11 February, A.S Lakshminarayanan, MD and CEO, Tata Communications, said: “There are 85 cameras capturing the event for over 400 million people watching all over the world. To be able to facilitate that truly speaks about the power of internet that we have been able to leverage, with our dedicated media cloud and edge computing capabilities. And, apart from our long-standing partnership with FIA, we extend the services to multiple major sporting leagues across the world.”