The broadcasters dilemma: how to do more with le

As FORECAST12 delegates looked to the future of broadcasting it was clear that questions around how best to use spectrum are crucial.

Useful Links Spectrum Policy

EBU FORECAST12

EBU Spectrum Management Group

EBU Cooperative Terrestrial Networks Group

EBU Green Broadcasting Group

FACT SHEETS WRC-15

Cooperative Networks

White Space Devices

Green Broadcasting



Delegates at this weeks EBU FORECAST12 seminar heard plenty of evidence pointing to the dilemma facing broadcasters today: while there are increasing pressures to deliver more content and more services, the essential real-estate that drives broadcasting - spectrum - is continually being squeezed by the demands of the mobile sector.

Live TV audiences are growing and there is an ever increasing demand for higher quality as sets get bigger. FORECAST12 attendees heard about the techniques broadcasters are exploring to help them meet these demands through more efficient spectrum use. Mobile industry people were also in attendance to present their efforts to develop networks that would cooperate more effectively, but the demands from that industry for bigger slices of the spectrum currently used for broadcasting are plain to see.

On day two of FORECAST12, Prof. Reimers of TUBS spoke about his dynamic broadcasting and LTE overlay projects: both designed to merge the key assets of mobile, broadcast and fixed broadband networks. His message was to point towards the network architectures, rather than operating in the silos that are mobile telecommunications and broadcasting. Some delegates voiced concern that the necessary cooperation between the two sectors would not happen.

A key prsentation on day two looked at the environmental impact of broadcasting. Simon Tuff (BBC) pointed to the fact that 60% of the TV industrys impact is due to domestic installations (TV sets, antenna amplifiers, etc.). He cautioned that proposals to move broadcasting to low-tower, low-power topologies could increase the energy consumption of a typical network by 100%. He highlighted the EBUs programme on Green Broadcasting as an important first step towards finding realistic ways to address these issues.

FORECAST12 attracted more than 110 participants and speakers drawn from public and private broadcasters, network operators, regulators, academia and the telecoms industry. The presentations from the event are available to EBU Members from the event webpage.

Images:

Above: Johan Wahlberg spoke about some of the newer platforms at SVT.

Below: Panel discussion at FORECAST12 featuring Simon Tuff (BBC), Johan Wahlberg (SVT), Philip Kelley (Alcatel-Lucent), Roland Beutler (SWR) and Jochen Mezger (IRT).

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