BMC TV has built a reputation for delivering high-quality media connectivity for major sporting and entertainment events, from UK horse racing and Strictly Come Dancing to the FIFA World Cup and Wimbledon. As live event broadcasting evolves, the company must keep pace with increasing demands for ultra-low latency, high bandwidth and rapid scalability.
To extend its LMX Live and LMX Connect services across the UK, BMC TV needed a network partner with the capacity, resilience and agility to support rapid growth. With its extensive fibre infrastructure and reputation for agility and bespoke service, Neos Networks was a natural choice.
The challenge
Extending BMC TV’s connectivity for live events presents unique challenges:
- High capacity: BMC TV’s customers, including major broadcasters like the BBC and ITV, need exceptionally high capacity to move uncompressed UHD video nationwide with the highest reliability.
- Ultra-low latency and reliability: For live sports like football or horse racing with in-race betting, even the slightest delay can have significant consequences. “Every customer is different,” said BMC TV CEO David Meynell. “But all our customers want low latency, high reliability and availability.”
- Efficiency and agility: Live TV events won’t wait. BMC TV needs to get customers on-net as fast as possible with minimal complexity.
- Near-limitless scalability: As the fastest growing media connectivity provider in the UK, BMC TV is scaling up rapidly, and customer demands are increasing. “It’s a combination of network availability, bandwidth expansion, data requirements, internet requirements – lots of things in addition to core video,” Meynell said.
Meeting these challenges required a solution that could offer more than just capacity. BMC TV needed reliability, agility and the ability to scale up fast.
The solution
Neos Networks provides BMC TV with high-bandwidth, low latency connectivity, including:
- High-capacity 10Gbps and 100Gbps optical links
- Diverse fibre routes for maximum resilience
- Dedicated low latency circuits for real-time UHD video transmission
This infrastructure is crucial in enabling BMC TV to extend its reach. “Neos Networks’ high capacity network enables us to send live, UHD video uncompressed out to the edge,” said Lee Russell, Operations Director at BMC TV.
Beyond its core network, Neos Networks’ ability to simplify network procurement is a key element. “Neos takes away the headaches of dealing with last-mile providers like BT, Sky or whatever local provider is out there,” said Russell.
Another key element is the speed of delivery. “LIVEQUOTE is a big part of it,” said Russell. BMC TV uses Neos Networks’ LIVEQUOTE platform to streamline quoting and ordering. “It’s a very easy tool to use. I can do quotes in a few minutes,” he added.
The outcome
With Neos Networks’ support, BMC TV has extended its LMX Live and LMX Connect services beyond London, reaching key venues across the UK with increased scalability and resilience.
“We have a very high capacity core network in London,” Russell said. “Neos enables us to reach out to other parts of the country – out to the edge – giving us the reach we need to grow.”
This high capacity, ultra-low latency connectivity has been vital for recent coverage of UK horse racing, Super League Basketball and other major entertainment productions.
With Neos Networks as a trusted connectivity partner, BMC TV is well positioned to continue shaping the future of live broadcasting, ensuring audiences receive uninterrupted, world-class coverage of the events that matter most.
“We’re experiencing exponential growth and anticipate that within the next three years, BMC TV will be the leading provider of media networks in the UK. Our partnership with Neos Networks is fundamental to achieving this vision. Their commitment to service excellence and ability to provide rapid, on-net connectivity allows us to scale at pace, ensuring that our customers benefit from seamless, high-quality broadcasting.” David Meynell, CEO of BMC TV.
