Sports Technology & Communications News from Around the World

Level 3 Communications, a provider of fiber-based communications services, announced that its Vyvx VenueNet+ technology will be used to offer live, high-definition (HD) television broadcast video services to FOX Sports for Super Bowl XLV.

Level 3 claimed that its Vyvx services deliver every event with mission-critical care and the Vyvx VenueNet+ service is engineered to provide the high-quality high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) digital video services broadcasters have come to rely on from Vyvx, but with added HD and SD encoding, high-speed Internet and phone support in VenueNet+ venues.

VenueNet access delivers content to users’ choice of destinations via the Vyvx network. Arenas are connected by fiber links to Vyvx’ world-class switched video network. Level 3 said that it has connected venues for professional football, baseball, soccer, basketball and hockey as well as a growing number of other professional and college venues.

Level 3 has connected the stadium in Arlington, Texas directly to its fiber-optic network and will provide FOX with advanced voice, video and high-speed data services through a single connection panel using Vyvx VenueNet+ technology.

Officials with FOX Sports recognized that Level 3 has a long history of supporting FOX in the delivery of professional sports content to viewers around the country. For an event like the Super Bowl, where performance is critical, Level 3’s unmatched experience delivering this event and the improvements they’ve made to simplify the event delivery process with VenueNet+ were important factors in FOX’ decision to work with them. The VenueNet+ services also helped FOX Sports deliver the 2010 professional football season.

“When a company is selected to deliver an event as big as the Super Bowl for more than two decades running, as we have been, we believe it’s a pretty good indicator of the level of trust the league and broadcasters have in Level 3 to provide superior performance in high-pressure situations,” said Mark Taylor, vice president of content and media at Level 3, in a press release.

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