TELCO STRATEGY
Tackling industry challenges head-on Since its launch in 2019, the accelerator has positioned itself as a problemsolver at the crossroads of content and connectivity. Its focus is on real-world outcomes, not theoretical exercises.
“ The accelerator programme was designed for champions, those that buy technology, to come together and share their problems, the challenges they wanted to solve collectively,” says Mark.“ We then bring technology leaders, organisations and startups together to help deliver solutions in a matter of months. That’ s why it’ s called the accelerator programme. It’ s not about venture funding in the American sense, it’ s about accelerating the industry’ s understanding of new technologies in context.”
“The accelerator programme was designed for champions, those that buy technology, to come together and share their problems, the challenges they wanted to solve collectively”
Mark Smith, Chair, IBC Council
The collaborative model has attracted heavyweight partners: the BBC, ITV and France Télévisions on the media side and Verizon Business, BT, Comcast and Orange on the telecoms side. Together, they are driving projects that explore the technological frontiers shaping the next decade of digital media.
Proof in practice: 5G takes flight Few initiatives capture the Accelerator’ s impact as vividly as Conquering the Airwaves: Private 5G from Land to Sea to Sky. The proof-of-concept is transforming live broadcasting by moving private 5G networks from static venues to mobile, dynamic environments.
“ We began in 2022 by developing a private network in the University of Strathclyde’ s labs,” Mark says.“ At the time, we were creating a 5G private‘ network in a box’, enabling broadcasters to operate their own dedicated networks for live event coverage.”
The impact was immediate.“ The first trial took place with BT Sport at MotoGP, where the high-definition footage we transmitted via the uplink was of such quality that it was used in the world feed. The BBC then adopted the technology for the King’ s Coronation in 2023 and Olympic Broadcasting Services later deployed it at the Olympic Games.”
The project has since reached new heights, literally. The team worked with France Télévisions and other production companies to cover cycling races. Using a light aircraft, they created a mobile 5G network capable of tracking the action across vast areas.
72 November 2025