Telstra & Silver Trak Launch 5G Cinema Direct

Telstra and media asset management specialists Silver Trak Digital have launched their new 5G Cinema Direct content delivery service – Australia’s fastest, most robust, and most secure delivery of digital content over 5G for cinemas, content distributors and movie studios. Cinema Direct requires no cabling, can be installed and working very quickly and is backed by Telstra’s entire network infrastructure and support teams.

Silver Trak Digital COO Christian Christiansen explained, “Cinema Direct enables content distributors to send and cinemas to receive digital content over Telstra’s 4G and 5G networks via Silver Trak’s media asset management system. We install and maintain all the required technology at no cost to the distributors or cinemas and then content can be ordered and delivered via the Silver Trak Digital online portal. This is an incredibly effective cost-efficient solution that is live and working now in cinemas across Australia.” By leveraging Telstra’s next generation 5G cellular technology, Cinema Direct presents an enterprise grade wireless content delivery solution suitable for any distributor and cinema in Australia.

Cinema Direct presents many benefits for the market as it operates over 5G for most metropolitan cinemas and 4G in rural areas. Not only is it cost efficient, but it offers a resilient and secure network that we control end-to-end. Where Silver Trak are experts in — and take care of — the media management, Telstra provides the managed master control, scheduling and assurance. First line support is then provided by Telstra Broadcast Services Master Control Facilities and second line support by Telstra Network Operations. Also, any content delivered by Cinema Direct is contained within a secure network, separate from any other traffic and only available to Silver Trak Digital’s clients making it very secure indeed.

Cinema Direct represents a real sea change in the digital content delivery landscape. The high level of security combined with its reach and the sheer size and scope of Telstra’s infrastructure and support takes it to another level. Christiansen added, “Cinema Direct has been developed as install and maintenance free for all users, particularly cinemas and content distributors. Not only that, over time the Cinema Direct ecosystem will develop such that it will create and enable additional revenue streams for cinemas through the availability of rich media services. This means live sporting events, concerts, and other exclusive content can be delivered at super high quality to any venue connected to Cinema Direct live in real-time, at any time, with the simple click of a button.”

As Christiansen explained the fact that Cinema Direct provides distributors wanting a more cost effective and cost efficient way of having their content delivered to cinemas is just one of the major benefits of the new 5G solution. The ‘live’ content capabilities of Cinema Direct will allow new and extended audiences to view a whole range of content on the big screen – content they would previously never have had access to, particularly in a cinema.

Andreas Eriksson, Head of Telstra Broadcast Services added, “Content delivery over Telstra’s 5G network is obviously a huge benefit of delivering Cinema Direct. We are also excited at the prospect of entertaining, providing the appropriate viewing rights, to potentially thousands of Australians who could not access for example a sold-out concert or sporting event. With Cinema Direct, Cinemas will now have the opportunity to offer these events and other content across Australia live or on delay.’’