How Deutsche Telekom and Hololight Enable XR Streaming Beyond Wi-Fi
Deutsche Telekom Success Story

Deutsche Telekom Enables Low Latency XR Streaming Everywhere

Smooth visuals. Stable latency. High-end XR – even in the field.

Industrial XR applications are growing fast. But rendering complex 3D models on mobile devices like AR or VR headsets remains a challenge — especially in environments without reliable Wi-Fi. Low latency and consistent bandwidth are essential for a smooth experience. For this reason, Hololight has integrated L4S — Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson's standard for intelligent rate adaptation in 5G networks — into its XR streaming technology. The result: reliable, high-performance XR streaming over cellular networks, even when on-site connectivity is limited.

Stream XR applications on mobile devices

In order to realistically display complex virtual objects, XR applications place high demands on system performance. Mobile devices such as VR headsets usually do not meet these requirements. This is why it is expedient to bring the XR applications to the mobile devices via streaming. This prevents the latter from having to provide the necessary performance themselves. Instead, the rendering process, along with the data on the external server in the cloud, is outsourced in edge infrastructures or in datacenters within the company. Only then are high-performance XR applications on mobile devices possible in the first place. At the same time, the outsourcing increases data security, as no sensitive information is located on the end device itself. To enable industrial users to benefit from these crucial advantages, Hololight provides its proprietary XR streaming technology.

However, in order to stream AR and VR applications in real time, a stable and high-performance network connection is required. This is not always provided in industrial development and design environments, meaning that companies often do not have a comprehensive Wi-Fi infrastructure. The latter is usually not available at construction sites and other sites in the field, with the result being that experts such as architects and building engineers cannot access a stable internet connection on-site. In these cases, the required connectivity and bandwidth must be provided via a functioning streaming service. What is essential for the real-time streaming of AR and VR applications is a low and stable latency; in other words, a low jitter. Think, for example, of high-precision working machines or processes in the domain of autonomous driving.

Minimizing latencies through bit-rate adjustment

In order to implement time-sensitive applications with high data rates — such as XR streaming — on a large scale in 5G networks, the latencies must be kept low and stable in a way that is also efficient. In collaboration with the Swedish telecommunications specialists at Ericsson, Deutsche Telekom has a practical solution for this: the concept for a rate adjustment in 5G networks based on Low Latency Low Scalable Throughput (L4S). This involves an intelligent mechanism that is standardized by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), a working group for the technical development of the internet. It ensures that data packets are quickly and smoothly transported through the network. The technology enables a stable latency (low jitter) in wired networks — in other words, fixed networks — as well as in cellular networks.

Through the use of L4S QoS (quality of service) streams, one can ensure that latency-critical applications with high data rates via 5G work smoothly and without any delays. Throughout this process, it is important that the mechanism does not unilaterally prioritize certain data packets. This guarantees that other users in the network are not disadvantaged. L4S recognizes early on if a bottleneck arises during the transmission of the data packets. The system gives the sender a corresponding response. They then adjust the bit rate based on this. Congestions and latencies can thus be reduced to a minimum.

This breakthrough enables designers and engineers to work on complex 3D data anywhere – at construction sites, in production facilities, or in the field. Even in regions with weak connectivity, holograms remain sharp, detailed, and responsive.

Hololight's XR streaming technology and L4S: enabling high-performance XR over 5G

To bring the benefits of L4S to users, Hololight has integrated the mechanism into its XR streaming technology. As a result, when streaming AR and VR applications, users will benefit from the highest possible quality and smooth presentation of three-dimensional holograms through XR glasses.

“L4S is predestined for all network-intensive applications with high graphical requirements, including and especially XR applications. This way, complex objects with a large number of polygons, for example, can be visualized with a greater level of detail and without delay, which for designers and developers in particular enables an outstanding three-dimensional experience.” 
– Dominik Schnieders, Head of Edge Computing at Deutsche Telekom 

“Through our partnership with Deutsche Telekom and the integration of L4S, we are able to offer our customers a very new dimension to streamed XR scenarios.” 
– Philipp Landgraf, Senior Director XR Streaming, Hololight 

Real-world applications

All industry branches that use XR applications for their design, development, and planning processes benefit from this combination of Hololight's XR streaming technology and L4S. The technology will also be used in innovative, forward-looking projects, such as those that are part of IntellIoT, the next-generation Europe-wide IoT framework. As a result, thanks to the integration of L4S into Hololight's XR streaming technology, equipment such as tractors, as part of an intelligent agricultural fleet combined with supporting devices such as drones, can in the future be partially operated and steered remotely. The agricultural machines will receive the XR applications from servers in the cloud via streaming.

Another application example is the planning and construction of residential areas, as demonstrated in the Munich district of Freiham. Using Hololight's XR streaming technology based on digital 3D data, and with the help of Augmented Reality, the construction planners visualized and modeled the entire construction plan. In doing so, they anticipated the future development of the area. In development areas where comprehensive Wi-Fi is still not available, these kinds of AR applications can be streamed over the cellular network with L4S.

Stable XR streaming — wherever work happens

This collaboration between Hololight and Deutsche Telekom, first established in 2023, reflects a broader shift in how enterprises think about XR deployment. The assumption that XR requires a stable, high-bandwidth Wi-Fi connection has long been a limiting factor — restricting use to offices, labs, and facilities with controlled network environments. The integration of L4S into Hololight's XR streaming technology is a step toward removing that constraint.

As XR adoption in industry continues to grow, the ability to stream high-performance applications reliably over public cellular networks becomes increasingly relevant — for engineers working on-site, for field operations far from fixed infrastructure, and for any organization that needs XR where Wi-Fi simply isn't available. Hololight's XR streaming technology, combined with the network intelligence that L4S provides, is designed to meet that demand.