Following a busy round of trials, LTE Broadcast networks are being rolled out on both sides of the Atlantic with potentially dramatic ramifications for the future of content distribution.
With LTE Broadcast, spectrum doesn't need to be dedicated to either broadcast or broadband, but can be used flexibly for both according to users' needs. Subscribers would be able to watch TV on their devices without eating into their mobile data plan and independent of network load. LTE Broadcast allows for a free-to-air or pay-TV service that can be received by anybody with a suitable device, similar to traditional TV broadcasting. Broadcasters and content providers could extend their reach to mobile users and open the door for a multitude of interactive services.
Traffic is exploding on mobile networks and it is driven by video, Frank Hermans, Head of TV and Media Sales, Ericsson told IBC. We see the 2015-2019 time frame holding significant revenue opportunities once you bring the ecosystem partners together of content, stadia, mobile and technology together. There is real money in LTE Broadcast. Innovation will only increase.
LTE Broadcast (or Multicast) is based upon evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS) and it allows the same content to be sent to a large number of subscribers at the same time. This results in a more efficient use of network resources than each user requesting the same content and then having the content unicast to each user.
The result is less strain on the network, which is especially good in places such as sports arenas, which is where initial test applications have concentrated. Telstra conducted one of the first at the MCG cricket ground in January. Telcos in the US, the Middle East and Europe have followed suit including Vodafone (at Borussia Monchengladbach); KPN (at Ajaxs Amsterdam Arena); EE and the BBC (during the Commonwealth Games); Orange (at Roland Garros); Polands Polkomtel while (at Warsaws National Stadium) and Etisalat in Abu Dhabi.
Spectators in the arena achieve new intimacy with the live experience unfolding around them by being able to access live streams, multiple camera angles, replays, graphics and statistics on their mobile devices.
Mike Wright, Group MD, Telstra told IBC that there are two main benefits to LTE Broadcast. One is about the way we more efficiently design a network which is going to save us costs, and then there is potential for new services and new revenue streams. When you put the two together you have a business case.
Going beyond stadia, there is also research to see if LTE can be expanded for nationwide TV broadcasting. In Finland, Nokia is leading the world's first field trial of wide-area TV broadcasting using a single LTE frequency within the UHF spectrum. The trial aims to show that LTE could be used to complement and in the long run even provide another option to regional digital TV distribution standards, such as DVB-T in Europe.
Another ongoing trial in Munich, by a consortia led by the Institut f r Rundfunktechnik, is the first to apply the technology on the UHF spectrum, using part of the 700 MHz band to broadcast over a 200 km2 area. At IBC, Dr Klaus Illgner-Fehns of IRT explained that the aim of the project was to integrate the one to many distribution of broadcast with the one to one communications of mobile. Mobile and broadcast work with very different network infrastructures yet they compete for the scarce, limited resource of spectrum, he said. Our approach is to learn if there is a new convergent system benefiting TV and mobile for both linear and on-demand personalised video. Is there a unified air interface which can serve millions of users at the same time and provide business opportunities for both mobile and broadcast.
Operators in the U.S are taking the plunge. Both AT&T and Verizon are expected to deploy LTE Broadcast as a commercial service sometime in 2015. Verizons CFO Fran Shammo called the advent of the technology the pivotal point that starts to change the way content is delivered over a mobile handset which opens up content into the wireless world.
Last month in the UK, mobile operator EE launched a service for the home via a set top box, though in the future, this will allow customers to access content on the go, over EE's 4G network. However, European 4G network coverage lags some way behind that of the U.S where at least 19% of the country has coverage compared to just 2% in Europe (source: mobile operator trade body GSMA). The EU expects 80% of the EU population to be covered by LTE in 2018.
EU Vice-President Neelie Kroes (recently departed from that post) made it her mission to urge Member States to license their 4G spectrum, facilitate investment in wireless broadband and extend coverage beyond urban areas. She told IBC: Its time for EU countries to put 4G deployment at the top of their digital to do list, and support a true Digital Single Market.
Kroes is also hoping Europe will pioneer 5G. The EU is investing 700m over the next seven years in the technology and EU industry is set to match this investment by up to five times, to more than 3 billion.
We need to think beyond borders and come up with a global approach towards 5G by the end of 2015, she said. The clock is ticking but there is also real progress.
5G will offer totally new possibilities to connect people, and also things cars, houses, energy infrastructures. However, we are still a decade away from 5G deployment and we still do not have an EU-wide 4G network on which 5G will be built.
Follow up and go deeper into this topic at IBC TV with VOD streams of:
Neelie Kroes IBC2014 Keynote on the digital agenda in the session The Challenges Ahead'
LTE Broadcast In-Stadia Second Screens for Spectators' featuring Ericssons Frank Hermans and IRTs Dr Klaus Illgner-
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Following a busy round of trials, LTE Broadcast networks are being rolled out on both sides of the Atlantic with potentially dramatic ramifications for the future of content distribution.
