How my company created headsets for visually impaired fans

• Shared Access has partnered with a football club to provide headsets for visually impaired fans.
• It installed a private 5G network for fast connectivity and near-instant streaming.
• This article is part of “A guide to 5G and connectivity”, a series about one of the most important technological innovations of our time.

This essay is based on a conversation with Sam Jackman, director of development at European mobile connectivity company Shared Access. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

My company, Shared Access, has been working with Crystal Palace Football Club in London for years to improve connection at their Selhurst Park stadium.

It started when Vodafone turned to Shared Access to help build a system for the stadium that would deliver excellent service even when all 30,000 fans were trying use your phones at the same time.

Last year, Crystal Palace approached us to support a particular category of fan: the visually impaired. In partnership with GiveVisionthey worked on deploying headsets which live recording of the match directly for partially sighted fans, allowing them to sit anywhere in the stadium but see every moment in sync with the action on the pitch – and they need faster connection to make it happen.

Existing networks weren’t cutting it

Before coming to us, the team working on the project tried to run the headsets over Wi-Fi, but there was too much delay. People using headsets experienced a slight delay, with fans around them reacting to something on the field before they could see the action.

The 4G network we previously deployed with Vodafone and even public 5G networks were not up to the job. Public networks have many firewalls and protocols that introduce additional delays, such as the need to transmit data from the stadium to the mobile operator’s core network outside the stadium and then back to the user. It’s also difficult because the number of other users using the network inside the facility slows things down.

We decided to set a private 5G network with its own nucleus in the stadium. This provides a completely closed connection within the premises, avoiding external data transmission and eliminating security protocol problems of major mobile network operators. It delivers near-instant performance at speeds faster than 4G and even faster 5G speeds than most public users. Also, because the club has full control over who can use the network, it can ensure that all bandwidth goes to those headsets only.

On 21 September, we officially launched the programme, making Crystal Palace FC the first football club in the world to offer a permanent vision enhancement system for visually impaired fans in their stadium. Since we launched, we’ve seen more visually impaired fans who previously didn’t think coming to a game was worth coming and having a great experience.

Future applications for private 5G networks

While helping these fans see more than enough justification to implement this private network, there are also a lot of them opportunities for how this technique can be used.

For example, food and beverage vendors could use a private network to power their box office, allowing the stadium to expand its food offering in areas that previously did not have a strong enough connection. CCTV cameras can be installed in places where it is physically difficult to connect power supply and fiber optics. Broadcasters will be able to use a private 5G network for faster video output and without the need to place a lot of equipment in the stadium, which will reduce carbon footprint their work.

It doesn’t have to be just sports. I would suggest any place to consider: What are your problems? What would you like to do but think you can’t because of the connection?

After all, having the foundation of this private network gives you so much room for creativity in terms of what you can add to it. Twelve months ago, I had never heard of GiveVision headsets and the company had never thought about using a private 5G network, so this collaboration was perfect. Who knows what other programs exist? I hope that other partners and suppliers will be just as creative in working together to find opportunities.