Tata selected to provide live broadcast feeds for Sky

LONDON: Tata Communications, the official connectivity provider of Formula One, has been selected by Sky sports to live broadcast feeds of all 21 Grands Prix motor racing matches.

The deal, which is a part of Sky's strategy to create Europe's leading entertainment company following its acquisition of Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland, will ensure a seamless race experience for viewers in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy, regardless of Grand Prix location, Sky sports said in a statement.

All video feeds of the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship season will be distributed live in high- definition to Sky viewers using Tata Communications' Video Connect service.

Sky teams based in the UK, Germany and Italy will work in close collaboration with Tata Communications' experts at race tracks and its remote operations teams, ensuring a seamless delivery of each race to people at home, it said.

"The integration of our operations in Europe is focused on accelerating innovation and serving our viewers better - and Tata Communications' global fibre network will help us do just that," says Keith Lane, Director of Operations at Sky.

With half a billion viewers globally, F1 is the world's most popular annual sporting series - but with races in locations as diverse as the streets of Singapore, the hills of Sao Paulo and the deserts of Abu Dhabi, it is also a hugely challenging environment for broadcasters, says Mehul Kapadia, Managing Director of F1 Business at Tata Communications.