Tata Communications ushers in a new era for VICE Media with global cloud-based media platform

Tata Communications ushers in a new era for
VICE Media with global cloud-based media platform  

 Superfast 10Gbps Video Connect network and secure cloud storage
enable producers and editors around the world to collaborate as if they were in
the same location   

SINGAPORE – April 25th 2017 – Tata Communications, a leading provider of A New World of Communications™, today
announces that it has been chosen by VICE Media to build a high-performance,
completely cloud-based platform for global media asset management, storage,
content contribution and distribution. It will enable VICE Media to capture content anywhere in the world, and
quickly make it available to hundreds of editors in production centres in New
York City, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Toronto and London, for publishing and
broadcasting across VICE Media channels.

The new platform is
underpinned by Tata
Communications’ Media Ecosystem, which
offers VICE Media a full set
of media solutions. It includes the Video
Connect service, which
complements VICE Media’s local area network and provides the company with a
global area network of video contribution and IP connectivity. With speeds of
up to 10Gbps, Video Connect enables a seamless transfer of video files and
remote collaboration between VICE Media teams across different geographies as
if they were in the same location.

The Media Ecosystem is
also equipped with Tata Communications’ IZO™ Cloud Storage, which
provides VICE Media with secure, reliable private cloud-based media storage for
read-write access and archival of data-intensive video files. Previously, some
of these files were stored on-premise which made teamwork challenging between
different studios. All VICE Media’s files, including videos in HD, 4K and UHD
formats, are also now replicated in multiple private cloud locations around the
world in real-time for back-up and disaster recovery. Additionally, Tata
Communications has integrated VICE Media’s media asset management and file
acceleration tools into the new bespoke platform, creating an end-to-end
solution for around 5,000 VICE Media employees around the world.

VICE Media’s offering
spans across broadcast and OTT channels such as VICE
News, VICE Sports, Noisey (music), Motherboard (technology
and science), Broadly (women’s interest), i-D (fashion)
and Tonic (health and fitness), among many
others. Content on these channels consists of news reports, live and recorded
events, documentaries and a wide range of other types of videos.

“We need to be able
operate seamlessly across all platforms to reach a global audience with our
content,” said Ariel Rubio, Vice President of IT at VICE Media. “To do this, we need a powerful, well connected
platform that enables us to collaborate as if we were together in the same
location. Working with Tata Communications, we are able to get a LAN experience
in a WAN environment, underpinned by the company’s global network.”

“VICE Media’s needs
reflect a growing trend in the media and entertainment market, whereby there is
a huge pressure to quench audiences’ thirst for live events, big and small, as
they happen around the world, and bring viewers enhanced experiences through
higher quality formats such as 4K and UHD,” said Brian Morris, Vice President
and General Manager, Global Media and Entertainment Services at Tata
Communications. “In this high-pressure environment that is being transformed by
digital technologies, you need an infrastructure that is completely integrated
across media asset management,
storage, content contribution and distribution. That is what we are creating for VICE Media, with the aim of
empowering the company continue on its path of phenomenal growth in this
rapidly evolving market.” 

“VICE Media is a new
media company using IP-based broadcast infrastructure to achieve greater
velocity and overcome geographical boundaries,” said Sam Rosen, Vice President
at ABI Research.  “Tata Communications provides the glue that holds this
solution together with IP transport and storage capabilities, bringing content
to central locations, between central locations and studios, and feeding the
distribution network when assets are ready to publish.  The use of IP
within broadcast supports the need for rapid support of nascent standards
including 4K, 8K, high dynamic range (HDR) and 360 video.”

Tata Communications’
media and cloud services are underpinned by the world’s largest subsea fibre network of its kind,
creating an end-to-end, completely integrated solution for VICE Media. Today,
over 25% of the world’s Internet routes travel over Tata Communications’
network and the company is the only Tier-1 IP network provider that is in the
top five by routes in five continents.