Telstra announced as delivery partner for the Royal Opera House’s global network modernisation project
06 June 2023 · 2 minute read
We wanted to start a business transformation program and that transformation program was really looking across the organization at where can we optimize the business, where can we make incremental revenue, and where can we increase the resilience and stability of the organization. So actually, for us, it was about how do we create the enabler to be able to power those other three sections? So putting in a new fixed and wireless network was really a critical phase of having a transformation program. For Telstra, what's exciting is collaborating with the Royal opera house and achieving those business goals and those business outcomes. To be able to see such an iconic part of British culture look at how they can expand the value that they can offer is truly inspirational. We're a fairly unique business, you know we are a live production facility therefore we're working 24 hours a day. I think we feel really fortunate to have worked with Telstra and to choose Telstra to be a partner actually. The experience has been great so far. We've probably seen Telstra in the building almost every day since the partnership began so I think that tells you a lot. Telstra are making the time and effort to be here with us. The building and the environment in which the Royal Opera House operates is obviously iconic. It's a real showpiece for the Arts, for the various performances that are held there, and it's something that we didn't want to inhibit or impact in any way in terms of the solution. One of the challenges that we have today is around the efficiency in the workflows around content production. We record on a number of broadcast cameras in our auditoriums, we have to distribute content out to Cinemas, distribute content out to our VOD platfoms as well, so moving content around the building and between systems, between edit Suites can be a challenge for us so the new capabilities from the fixed and Wi-Fi networks are able to move content more effectively and efficiently. This is a project that's bringing together a number of teams from across the opera house. So, the sub teams of our technical production, so lighting, sound and broadcast as well as the core I.T technology teams. I think actually it's really fostered a great spirit of collaboration between the internal teams, but it's also created a great working relationship with Telstra. It's been incredible to see that investment in time, that energy, and that enthusiasm, to be able to spend time in such an iconic venue, to be able to interact with such a vibrant team, has been absolutely fantastic. We share so many of the same values and we share so many similar passions in terms of the Arts, in in terms of making people happy, and, and yeah delivering this kind of value out there into the world. It's been a fantastic project to work on and we can't wait to see the value that it adds. We want to be able to reach out to customers around the world and so transformation is a huge part of that outreach. Having this Foundation from from Cisco and Telstra really cements the opera house as a world-class venue with world-class technology.
LONDON - The Royal Opera House (ROH) has selected Telstra to lead a widescale digital transformation project as part of the iconic theatre’s ongoing digital modernisation plans. The first step in this partnership will see Telstra unify the ROH’s networks to provide a fixed wireless service that improves performance, availability, and security.
As one of the world’s most celebrated cultural destinations, the Royal Opera House is a grade one listed building located in the heart of London’s West End. The new network implemented by Telstra will create a digitally enhanced ecosystem providing the ROH with greater customer insight and improving staff and audience network access and experience, ensuring better service availability for the ROH stakeholders.
Seamless wireless connectivity will also support the ROH’s delivery of world class artistic performances by enabling virtual collaboration with international teams. Creative teams working on shows behind the scenes will now be able to scope and plan productions before arriving at the iconic venue. In the Royal Opera Houses ongoing commitment to open up its artforms, the new network will also enable the ROH to produce, share and publish online performance content and materials, digitally interacting with patrons, visitors, audiences, sponsors and key industry stakeholders.
James Whitebread, Chief Technology Officer at the Royal Opera House said, “Fuelled by the need to reduce costs, improve revenue generation and protect the security and resilience of the organisation, the Royal Opera House has embarked on widescale business and digital transformation efforts.”
He continued, “Our digital transformation journey has seen significant change in the last two years and this next stage is all about providing the Royal Opera House with scalable, secure, high-performance networks that are able to meet service, stage and broadcast requirements, as well as to serve office and public spaces. Telstra is the perfect partner to deliver our next successful phase enabling us to connect and inspire communities worldwide.”
The collaboration will also see Telstra improve service delivery and IT support, with the increased stability of network devices and end-to-end network performance; visibility across infrastructure for IT operations and support teams, and increased performance in terms of rapid issue identification, triage and resolution. In addition, Telstra will future-proof the network with the addition of Intelligent Network Enabled IoT Devices, and scaling for growth.
Rob Robinson, Head of Telstra Purple EMEA said, “The Royal Opera House is an iconic institution, championing more artists than any other UK arts organisation, and a long-standing key contributor to the UK arts and culture sector. We are thrilled to be supporting the ROH in this modernisation drive and we are excited that these new developments will improve the ROH’s ability to extend access to the arts and sharing more of its world class content with audiences across the globe”.
