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IBC 2023: The media and telecoms industry is exploring whether 5G is the future of DTT in France, Germany and other European markets.
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“We are convinced of the benefits of 5G Broadcast for end users,” declared Baptiste Dumond, Director TV activities, TowerCast. “For us, 5G is the future of DTT in France.
TowerCast is the second largest operator in France with 600 broadcast sites. It’s also major player in FM, DTT, has a 36% market share in DAB+ and is expert in wireless. TowerCast’s turnover last year was Euros 90m turnover. Dumont was giving a presentation at IBC on the stand of technical partner Rohde & Schwarz.
It launched mobile TV with DVB-H in 2000 and began its adventures in 5G Broadcast in 2016 by exploring partnerships. In 2018 the French regulator granted experimental authorisation in the UHF C39/40 band which led to the creation of a complete end to end 5G Broadcast platform.
By 2019 the country’s first 5GB site went to air, in Paris, and last year TowerCast took a big step forward with Qualcomm prototypes of 5G smartphones available for public test at Eurovision and Roland Garros.
“Since the very beginning the regulator has been very convinced in the technology for the future of DTT in France,” said Dumond.
A key motivator for the regulatory support and TowerCast’s interest is the constant progression of smart devices and the hand in hand exponential growth of video consumption. In fact, data consumption on a mobile phones is increasing by 30% as year and already 82% of teens aged 11+ own a smartphone.
“There’s a substantial threat on data delivery in the future. As a broadcast solution it’s the promise of a constant quality for an unlimited number of viewers for linear content that means, in France, the population you can address with 5GB is very large.”
Explaining TowerCast’s threefold vision for linear TV Dumond said, “The final users need perfect quality any time, anywhere. As a user I don’t care which network I am using just want best quality every time.
Secondly, TV broadcasters can address a larger audience with 5G DTT with no intermediary between their content and the end users. They can directly address users they do not directly address now.”
While OTT data consumption generates significant CDN costs, by using 5GB, TV channel operators can control their linear consumption costs, he said.
Most of the infrastructure in France is already used for traditional DTT. “We already know the upgrade cost is scalable.
All this is against the backdrop of France’s migration to DVB-T2. By early 2024 more than 70 sites will be broadcasting UHD content using DVB T2 followed by a “massive deployment” using a multi-city plan ahead of the Olympics in Paris next summer.
Frequencies could be available to launch 5GB by 2026 across the country.
“It’s very important that 3GPP release 17 allows for 6-8 Mhz bandwidth since we will use that in France to launch 5GB.”
Adoption will be very fast. Since most people change their phone every two years, by 2025 there will be a large population with devices with 5GB chipsets. “5GB could penetrate the market very quickly.”
TowerCast not just focused on the near term but also addressing TV sets and automotive spaces.
“For us, 5G is the future of DTT in France,” Dumond reiterated.
In Germany, 5GB is less advanced but still moving steadily forward.
Network service provider Media Broadcast believes it could be a game changer for broadcasters, advertisers and consumers alike.
Research suggests that 4 million people in Germany currently consume DTT on mobile – but this could rise 15x to 53 million with the introduction of 5G Broadcast, which is part of the global 5G standard.
“There is huge potential to bring linear TV to mobile phones,” said Markus Schneider, product manager at Media Broadcast. “This is the biggest argument to bringing 5G Broadcast to Germany.”
One business model would be the ability to offer targeted ads in the linear TV stream to smartphones – something which is not possible now.
Broadcasters would appreciate the cheaper CDN cost of running a DTT service. “There are costs but these costs are fixed,” Schneider said.
Another driver for 5G user potential is the projected growth in Europe of live video to mobile handsets. Because devices have a feedback channel it means links to VOD platforms easily embedded.
He also pointed to the green energy saving benefits of 5G Broadcast which is 90% less than that of streaming.
Trials in Munich and in Stuttgart – testing 5G delivery of in-car infotainment with Mercedes and Porsche - have successfully completed with a third in Hamburg still ongoing.
In Hamburg and in tandem with Norddeutscher Rundfunk and R&S, Media Broadcast is investigating 5GB propagation and reception conditions to optimize frequency and transmitter network planning.
“We know there is a possibility to build a 5G network based on technology that works.”
However, there are hurdles. “Device producers need to be persuaded to embed 5G Broadcast chips in their devices. Regulators need to believe in the big advantage of terrestrial TV for German society and secure the necessary frequencies. Public broadcasters have to be convinced that terrestrial TV is still a needed and cheap way to reach the German population and commercial broadcasters have to believe in the growth potential of linear TV and in the new monetisation models.”
While broadcasters would appreciate the cheaper cost of running a DTT service “we have to find a balance between the best coverage and best data rate,” he said.
Investment is also required in new masts to densify the network and development of a 5G broadcast player for mobile devices.
Media Broadcast stressed it would support the development of 5G Broadcast “as we see great potential for terrestrial distribution of TV content on mobile devices. With 5GB, consumers can be offered a low cost sustainable and very robust product that will be an essential component for the future development of broadcasting technology.”
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