In Cologno Monzese, practically under the television studios that Dazn Italy use to record his on-demand contentthey have been working for two weeks ten young engineers just recruited by the company. I’m not in a bunker, rather in a vault. Because what computer scientists handle is the most precious thing the sports platform has, after the images of live events and its (many) entertainment formats: the streaming signalwithout which any productive effort would be useless.
Between the “Studio Dazn” and the engineers seated around a large yellow desk, there are a few steps and a flight of stairs to go down. Finally, a short corridor leads to the room of the new Nocthe Italian Network Operation Center which has the task of monitor the quality of the service offered and the routing of customer traffic.
Before the creation of the Italian Noc, these tasks were performed by Network Operation Center Global of Dazn which is located in Leeds in England. The British media company has therefore created a local presence that takes into account the characteristics of our country’s infrastructure. And that performs key operations before, during and after live events.
Before a game, for example, the Noc checks the allocation of technical resources, which change from tender to tender depending on the catchment area of āādirect interest. A match played by Napoli will logically require a different technological effort than that required to broadcast the match between two ‘minor’ clubs in terms of spectators. However, during the game the Noc monitors traffic, network performance and manages any technical problems. After the live event, the engineers take care of theanalysis of data relating to recorded performances and to any improvement plans for the next event.
Second Stefano Azzi, CEO of Dazn Italy, the new Noc “is an important building block for the company’s growth in Italy”. Is exactly the most important Dazn content distribution network outside England extends in Italy, where the main distribution center is located. A network that now matters 60 servers spread over 44 nodes along the boot. This is an infrastructure that Dazn started building in Italy in 2020/21 and which is now significantly approaching the source of live content to our country’s subscribers.
Officially inaugurating the Italian Noc, which has actually been operational since last March 19, Dazn also announced two important innovations concerning the quality of the streaming for those who – still – can’t count on fiber optics or decent broadband. The. is improved HD signal coveragewhich currently requires 23% less bandwidth, compared to the past, and that you can enjoy with a connection of only 3 Mb/s. And for those who do not reach this speed, there is a lower quality signal available, called SD, which can also carry images in the presence of a connection of only 400 Kb/s.
In short, the growth of Dazn in Italy passes through a digital acceleration which, among other things, is the result of a constant comparison table with the Governmentl’AgCom and other partners such as Siaewith which the platform has entered into an agreement to use the music within its productions.
Dazn, who announced they have reached 15 million unique devices in our country – in the current football season – intends to invest again in new technological solutions to widen the audience and to conquer, in particular, the public of the very young.
For this reason, Dazn intends to extend a service active in Spain and called to Italy “Watch Party”, a sort of virtual room in which users can comment live on the event they are following, with text messages, or take part in quizzes and view polls proposed by the moderators. “The moderators, in fact, will have an important role – said the CEO Azzi – because we know very well that football is a hot topic that requires attention”.
Dazn’s plan is to transform, in the future, into an ecosystem capable of offering much more than a sporting event or football storytelling. The company aims to sell tickets and merchandise on its platform, as well as host sports betting and gaming. And in this “phase 3”, which for now represents the future of the company, a “freemium” model will also be envisaged as an alternative to the monthly subscription, “with a free selection of content available free of charge for users”.