For the first time in Europe, television channel Drei streamed an expert talk live from the altitude of 2,700m this week in the “digital impulse summit attempt”. In a 360-degree video captured by an Insta360 Pro 2 camera, viewers were able to follow a discussion session live from the highest mountain in Styria at the same time as admiring the summit panorama of the Dachstein glacier landscapes.
Drei CEO Jan Trionow ascended the summit together with Austria’s most successful Olympic athlete Felix Gottwald, head of Austrian sports aid Gernot Uhlir, Managing Director of Schladming-Dachstein tourism marketing Matthias Schattleitner, and mountain guide and nature photographer Herbert Raffalt. The theme of the discussion after arriving at the summit was “A foresighted look to the digital future”.

“We are at a turning point in digitalisation. The coronavirus crisis has jump-started the digital transformation in many businesses that still needed it. After slight delays as a result of the coronavirus, the 5G upgrade can now also really get underway,” Trionow says at the discussion session on the Dachstein.

He sees the “digital impulse summit attempt” from Drei as a symbol of new ideas that have arisen from the coronavirus crisis and of what is possible with the new technologies. “Without the coronavirus, our discussion session would never have taken place up here. The crisis has inspired us to do things differently. This has given rise to a virtual experience, which could also inspire tourism and sport,” the CEO of Drei says.

“As a virtual reality pioneer in Austria, we have proven with our summit attempt showcase that our networks are equipped to work even at 2,700 metres. With 5G, we will even be able to capture 360-degree landscapes live in 4K or 8K,” the head of Drei reports. “After the frequency auction, which ended last week, we have now purchased an optimal frequency package to set up the largest 5G network in Austria, which will provide ultrafast internet even to the most remote locations in our country.”

In sports too, Gottwald and Uhlir can see great potential for their 360-degree pictures in live format. “When I imagine that the viewers at home can experience exactly the same impressions as the slalom skiers at the night race in Schladming, the athletes in Kulm ski flying or at the mountain bike world championships in Leogang, live sports broadcasting opens up completely new perspectives,” Uhlir says.