Next year, next generation mobile broadband 5G will be introduced globally. The transmission capacity will be about 10-20 times higher than with 4G. Ten European 5G test projects connected to public broadcasting in Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway and the U.K. In Norway trials of LTE Broadcast (LTE-B) technology is ongoing in Selje in Sogn og Fjordane county since beginning of 2017 as reported by the EBU.
The public broadcaster NRK project is focused if LTE-B is well-suited for distribution of linear TV to big screen TVs, via 4G or 5G.
A dedicated “shadow network” has been set up to provide TV services to the 0.26% of households that live in areas without possibilities for satellite and digital terrestrial television (DTT) reception (as they live in the satellite "shadow" or the DTT "shadow" due to e.g. mountains). 552 small DTT transmitters are currently needed to cover these areas and the shadow network take up 1/3 of NRK’s TV distribution costs (it is 240 times more expensive to reach a household in the shadow areas than a household in the remaining 99.74% of Norway).
4 NRK channels in HD are broadcast with a bandwidth of 4–5 Mbit/s per channel. Frequencies are used in the 700 MHz band with Transmittting output of 40W.
The project also tries to find out if cooperation may result in benefits for society by providing broadband access, expanding emergency network coverage or introducing other functionalities in areas that currently lack such capabilities.
NRK has partnered with Nokia, NTV (Norwegian Television AS), Paneda, Norkring and mobile network operator Ice to find out whether it is commercially realistic to replace the DVB-T network by LTE-B in a cooperation with mobile network owners, the government or others, and whether it can reduce costs or provide synergies. The project will be presented by live demonstrations in Selje for participants and media before the end of this year.
In Finland the main idea is to use the cellular network to transmit the television and radio content that is currently transmitted in a dedicated broadcasting network. The government’s media political program states that superfast connections as well as development of new ways of distribution are essential for the media industry and also regarding access to information. The strategy is to enable Finland to become a leading global actor for testing, development and implementation of 5G technology.
In the United Kingdom according to the BBC amongst other key use cases, is to broadcast radio delivered over 5G. The BBC believes internet-based delivery will become increasingly important to broadcasting. It will use the 5G testbed on Orkney Islands to trial the capabilities of 5G to deliver traditional radio and new forms of BBC audio content over these new technologies.
Read more
Trials Tests And Projects Relating To 4G/5G Broadcast Supported By European PSB (EBU Report Tr044)
Government of Finland’s decision on a media political program (in Swedish)
Also read
BBC to trial broadcast radio over 5G (a516digital)
5G Smartphones in Stores Next Year
EBU Outlines 5G EU Policy for Public Service Media
