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| (Photo: teltarfi.de) |
European broadcasters push for 5G Broadcast rollout by 2027.
A win-win opportunity for broadcasters and mobile telecom stakeholders.
For eight years, 5G Broadcast has been developed, tested and is now ready for use in many countries. It is mainly about television broadcasts, but the new platform on the UHF band also has capacity for a large number of radio channels.
The 5G Broadcast Strategic Task Force (5BSTF) is now working on a launch of commercial 5G Broadcast services in six European markets by 2027. As traditional terrestrial analogue and digital terrestrial (DTT) networks face shutdowns, this next-generation technology is considered to offer a viable alternative, improving the delivery of live and linear audiovisual content. - More facts and analysis follow below.
The system leverages existing broadcast network infrastructure for a 5G Broadcast ecosystem that supports seamless, high-quality video streaming with lower latency, improved quality of service and minimal environmental impact. This aims to bring video quality at least to DTT levels to smartphones and tablets, expanding access to premium content on smartphones and outdoor environments while reducing battery consumption.
As 5G Broadcast emerges as a new market opportunity, several smartphone manufacturers are actively exploring its potential, conducting field trials with commercial devices, and evaluating how the technology can enhance their product offerings. The partners say that the 2025 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona confirmed strong industry interest, reinforcing the technology’s global scalability and low barriers to adoption.
At the MWC in Barcelona Motorola, in conjunction with Rohde & Schwarz, presented the integration of advanced 5G broadcast technology into handheld devices such as the Motorola RAZR 50 Ultra. Mohammed Abdul-Gaffoor, Leader of Motorola 312 Innovation Labs said that "This technology not only brings benefits to mobile entertainment, but also enhances emergency communications by providing critical information covering large areas even in disasters, it also has a low carbon footprint and can improve battery efficiency.
The 5BSTF’s work is gaining traction outside of Europe, with Latin America and Asia showing increasing interest. The commitment of new market players is expected to broaden adoption and accelerate deployment, positioning 5G Broadcast as a key innovation in the future of digital content delivery.
The 5BSTF was formed in 2024 by Media Broadcast (Germany), TDF (France) and Rohde & Schwarz, and has expanded to include Cordiant Capital (UK), Emitel (Poland), CRA (Czech Republic), BTCY (Belgium) and RAI (Italy). Together, they are developing a joint commercial roadmap to serve over 270 million people, with a target in the first phase of 125 million inhabitants in the participating countries.
Since 2017 5G Broadcast has been developed and/or tested also in Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, India, Indonesia, China, Croatia, Malaysia, Mexico, Slovenia, Spain, South Korea, USA and Austria.
Analysis
As linear TV gradually declines in importance, the need for terrestrial digital television in the UHF band has also been questioned. Mobile operators and mobile phone manufacturers have been particularly keen to take over the frequency space. They have a consistent need for increased space to broadcast audiovisual content - primarily video - which is estimated to take up at least 70% of the total space - to smartphones (and Connected Cars) worldwide. Mobile telecom is a gigantic industrial sector. The companies that today specialize in terrestrial broadcasting for radio and television are facing an elephant here.
The fact that the French TDF can focus on a leading role in bridging the gap between the mobile industry and the broadcasting industry is probably due to the fact that TDF is large in both branches of this communications world. This is in contrast to, for example, Sweden where Teracom operates separately from the telecom sector (Telia, Tele2, Ericsson, etc.). The state investigation into future radio and television distribution, which is due to submit its final report to the government by September 30 this year, has not yet revealed anything about 5G Broadcast.
The ITU conference WRC-23 in Dubai in December 2023, the terrestrial television sector was given a reprieve to retain space in the UHF 470–694 MHz frequency band until 2031. This has led to broadcasters, together with public service companies and equipment manufacturers, investing in a new technology that can make terrestrial broadcasting more relevant alongside mobile networks and fiber and, above all, to a connection with the Internet. This is the reason why they want to leave the relatively modern DVB-T2 system for a still better 5G Broadcast, which, among other things, works seamlessly with 5G mobile broadband in the higher UHF bands. In addition, radio and television with 5G Broadcast will for the first time have a joint broadcasting platform to the great advantage also for users.
There is now a lot left to prove. First of all, mobile manufacturers must get on the track by launching 5G Broadcast-ready smartphones. Apple, Motorola and Samsung have already shown their interest in including the chip needed to be able to achieve 5G Broadcast reception.
And by 2031, a well-functioning global infrastructure for 5G Broadcast must be demonstrated. Otherwise, the likely alternative is that terrestrial television will lose too much frequency space to remain a relevant platform for both content producers and audiences.
There are now more than 3 billion smartphones in use. The smartphone is becoming the major device for television viewing and radio listening.
It can be added that a global transition to 5G Broadcast means not only abandoning the DVB-T2 system but also other digital systems currently in use such as ISDB-T (Japan) and ATSC (USA). For example Preston Padden, a veteran U.S. broadcast TV executive, sees 5G Broadcast as a better choice than ATSC 3.0: The jackpot market that can save the industry is the ability to broadcast and datacast directly to wireless mobile devices including 300 million-plus smartphones and over 200 million tablets in the U.S.
Also 5G Broadcast can replace terrestrial digital radio systems such as the twilight systems DAB and HD Radio, which have so far been allocated frequencies in the VHF band.
In any case as 5G Broadcast will operate seamless towards mobile broadband networks. The viewer or listener with his/hers smartphone or in the car should not even notice change of platform. But broadcast providers ,mobile telecom operators and smartphone manufacturers should go together for this USP - a unique win-win opportunity. For the first time there might be a truly joint platform för audio and video broadcasting and this on a global standard scale.
MWC: 5G Broadcast auf "normalem" Smartphone (teltarif.de)
ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23) -Provisional Final Acts