[DigitalToday Online Team] LG Uplus is building an international broadcast relay circuit from North America to South Korea ahead of the opening of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

LG Uplus said on Sunday it will build dedicated broadcast relay lines during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which opens on June 11, and provide them to domestic host broadcasters. It strengthened the three-stage contingency system it has applied to international sports event broadcasts for this World Cup coverage.

It will first diversify undersea cable routes over about 14,000 km from Dallas, Texas, where the 2026 FIFA World Cup International Broadcast Centre (IBC) is located, to domestic broadcast relay hubs into six lines.

Specifically, it will build four lines along a route from Dallas via LG Uplus' Los Angeles point of presence (PoP), across the Pacific Ocean and to its Anyang building.

It also set up two lines along a route from Dallas via San Jose, California, and Los Angeles, across the Pacific Ocean and then to its Bangbae building.

To avoid variables arising from the war in the Middle East, it did not configure transmission routes passing through the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Compared with the previous Milan Winter Olympics broadcast, when it diversified routes into four lines, it effectively added two more lines this time.

Relay content that reaches South Korea will be distributed to the Anyang building and the Bangbae building. The measure is intended to keep broadcasts running even if unexpected failures occur.

Hitless Protection technology will also be applied across the entire video transmission process. The technology simultaneously receives signals transmitted on all lines, analyses packets in real time, and immediately switches to another line if an abnormality occurs on a specific line to minimise screen disruptions.

It is also preparing for scenarios in which disruptions occur across undersea cable lines. LG Uplus prepared a video transmission system based on the SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) protocol using local internet networks.

If problems also occur in local internet networks, it will activate a wireless transmission system using MNG (Mobile News Gathering) equipment.

MNG is a portable network device weighing about 1 kg that connects to local mobile communications networks and supports transmission of necessary video even in emergencies.

LG Uplus plans to conduct 24-hour checks of the entire communications infrastructure during the World Cup from its Anyang building, which serves as the control tower for its wired platform service.

For that purpose, it will deploy four people in Dallas and 18 dedicated staff at the Anyang building, and also operate a real-time collaboration system with overseas operators.

Ha-joon Jung (정하준), head of the wired platform at LG Uplus, said even minor interruptions can cause major inconvenience at a big event like the World Cup, so it is making thorough preparations in advance for various variables.