British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS)

BT collaborates with BFBS to future-proof media delivery to UK armed forces overseas

The challenge

British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), a military charity and media organisation, sought a secure and future-proof method to deliver content to our armed forces serving overseas and at sea. They are often in remote and challenging environments and so BFBS looked for a flexible and scalable solution that could adapt to the evolving needs of the armed forces whilst offering the necessary scalability and resilience.

BFBS needed to provide service personnel and their families with enhanced, secure, reliable, and cloud-based access to British TV, radio, and entertainment services to improve their wellbeing and morale – no matter where they are based.  

The solution

BFBS partnered with BT Media and Broadcast (BT M&B) to transition from legacy, on-premise systems to our Vena platform, a virtualised, cloud-based solution. Vena offers flexibility, resilience, and security, ensuring seamless global content delivery for BFBS. This transition involved migrating BFBS’s TV, radio and data services to our intelligent broadcast platform, enabling cloud-based processing of its content.

Key aspects of the solution included:

• Vena platform adoption: This enabled BFBS to deliver content with flexibility and reliability across diverse and remote regions. The platform also facilitated regional time-shifting of content, a critical requirement for BFBS to tailor broadcasts to different time zones.

• End-to-end delivery services: BT provided uplink services from its Earth station in Herefordshire to three satellites, ensuring BFBS content reaches personnel worldwide. Additionally, the solution combined multiple content streams into a single multiplex for distribution, allowing BFBS to streamline its operations.

• 24/7 monitoring and support: BT also offered a comprehensive monitoring service from its International Media Centre in London, ensuring any potential issues are quickly addressed and resolved.

• Future-proofing capabilities: By moving to a fully cloud-based solution, BFBS shifted from a capital expenditure (CapEx) model to an operational expenditure (OpEx) model. This provided greater financial flexibility and allowed BFBS to focus on service improvement and expansion rather than costly hardware upgrades.

The result

BFBS’s migration to our cloud-based Vena platform has significantly enhanced the quality, reliability, and flexibility of its content distribution services. Key benefits include:

• Scalability and flexibility: Vena allows BFBS to scale and adjust content delivery as the needs of the armed forces and the Ministry Of Defence evolve. This includes the ability to time-shift broadcasts based on regional requirements, ensuring timely delivery of content.

• Enhanced operational efficiency: The cloud-based infrastructure simplifies the content production and distribution process, reducing the dependency on legacy hardware and the associated costs.

• Morale and wellbeing: BFBS’s media services are a crucial link to home for personnel stationed overseas. This upgrade ensures consistent access to a bespoke mix of current British TV, public service broadcasting, premium sports, series, and movies contributing positively to morale.

• Global coverage: The new system ensures seamless content delivery even in remote and austere locations, at sea and on land worldwide.

Our successful collaboration with BFBS reflects our shared commitment to supporting the UK armed forces. By future-proofing its media services, BFBS continues to provide essential content to military personnel and their families, building morale and strengthening connections to home.