Streaming Screens

Flanking Hammersmith’s busy A4 flyover in west London are Europe’s largest pair of digital advertising platforms. While these double-sided LED screens, costing £1m, make for a striking landmark, they are also breaking new ground in digital connectivity, as ads are beamed live to the signs over an enterprise quality 3G mobile network provided by Stream Communications.

The Ocean Outdoor digital signs are the latest devices to join the ‘Internet of Things’ – devices connected to other devices over a mobile network, with the machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity provided by Stream.

“These screens represent the future of outdoor advertising, not only in scale and quality of image, but in the way they are able to utilise the latest in machine-to-machine mobile communications technology,” says Screen director, Nigel Chadwick. “The instantaneous nature and the simple management of content to the screens means the latest brand campaigns always reach target customers.”

Stream uses its own bespoke network  to enhance reliability, speed and capacity. This provides communications speeds that can exceed some fixed-line broadband internet connections. Advertising content for the signs is managed by Beyond Digital. The content is then distributed by Scala over Stream’s M2M mobile network, where it displays on the Ocean Outdoor twin tower screens. These screens target many millions of commuters heading to and from Heathrow Airport, Central London and the west London area.