Globecast creates first public cloud telco TV headend on AWS

Globecast creates first public cloud video headend platform powered by AWS for major European telco

Paris, 15^th April, 2023 — Globecast, the global solutions provider for media and content management, is excited to announce that it has developed and launched the first video public cloud video headend, powered by AWS, for a major European Telco. Globecast joined the AWS Partnership Program last year, significantly expanding its already-established cloud capabilities.

The telco, a returning Globecast customer, wanted to optimise its video headend capabilities for its IPTV and OTT services, with an initial scope of 380 channels and 1,400 streams and a key objective to move to an OPEX environment, alongside greatly increased flexibility in terms of adding and removing services.

Sylvain Merle, CTO and COO, Globecast, said, “We had extensive discussions with the customer and explained the benefits of moving to the cloud to satisfy its requirements. With our market-leading understanding of public cloud use, working with AWS, supplying our cloud playout solutions for Hallmark Media and horse racing channel Equidia, who’s using our Managed Cloud Network service, the customer could see the level of our expertise and the benefits. Additionally, we understood that there were some functions it wanted to remain on-premise and Globecast could easily satisfy that requirement as well.”

It was, of course, essential that video processing quality was maintained, alongside powerful security, while reaping the benefits of public cloud infrastructure and its inherent flexibility. Content acquisition and encryption, as well as some other, very specific add-ons, are handled on-premise, with Globecast uniquely positioned to work both ways.

All video processing functions are carried out in the cloud, with redundancy provided using different zones. Globecast has built a MediaHub allowing the interconnection of its points of presence with the cloud to be able to provide specific add-ons and any type of output for worldwide distribution with the strength of a fully managed network. Connections are secured using innovative Gateways and AWS Direct Connect over a private network. These gateways also provide additional operational and technical functions, including monitoring and the remapping of signals.

By using AWS Media Services, and especially AWS Elemental MediaLive as the core component, to build this video headend, Globecast is providing the scalability – the capacity to scale resources up and down, as required – and the video quality needed in today’s highly competitive market. AWS provides a huge range of capabilities, from ultimate resiliency to premium security. Using it to create a video headend also makes it easy to manage, maintain and update infrastructure. By combining this with Globecast’s three decades of B2B video expertise and cloud know-how, the customer has been supplied with a platform that not only satisfies its requirements today but can also be adapted and grown to handle future requirements, too, without any CAPEX.

Jean-Christophe Perier, CMO, Globecast, said, “This project is an operational and technological paradigm shift, brought about by the combined capabilities of AWS and Globecast MediaHub, enabling the inception and worldwide delivery of new services such as video processing in this case, but also FAST, pop-up, playout channels, and supporting the highest levels of quality. Welcome to the future.”