With 5G Broadcast technology, you will be able to receive terrestrial digital television (DTT) on your smartphone, even without a SIM card, therefore without using mobile data. A small revolution that is still being tested.
Watching television on a mobile device (smartphone or tablet) is already possible thanks to various streaming services (see our practical sheet). But this solution requires an Internet connection, whether via Wi-Fi or the 4G or 5G network. Which implies, in the latter case, consuming mobile data deducted from the package. And, “incidentally”, clogging up the network with multiple video streams that are very bandwidth-intensive (see our article).
But another way is possible: 5G Broadcast. As its name suggests, this technology is based on a completely different principle: broadcasting (broadcastin English). A “massive” broadcast, in digital, by hertzian waves (radioelectric), via a network of transmitting antennas, without going through the Internet. Exactly like digital radio (DAB and DAB+) and digital terrestrial television (better known as DTT). The difference compared to streaming video platforms? The data flows are shared instead of being individualized. In short, it is the same signal that is sent to all receivers in an area, which avoids saturating the network with countless flows by limiting traffic. In short, 5G Broadcast is a kind of mobile DTT. And above all, free!
5G Broadcast: a promising technology currently being tested
And the good news is that 5G Broadcast already exists! Its characteristics were defined in July 2020 in Release 16 of 3GPP, the organization that governs mobile technologies worldwide and regularly publishes technical specifications for industry players (operators, manufacturers, etc.). And while waiting to be deployed on a large scale, it is currently the subject of various experiments in the field.
Thus, since the end of July, TDF has allowed certain users to watch the channels France 2, France 24 and Arte but also to listen to France Bleu and France Info on 5G Broadcast compatible smartphones in a few test regions (Île-de-France, Nantes and Bordeaux). And, as the broadcasting group announced on September 16 in a press release published on X (ex-Twitter), all interested persons can come and test this new technology in a pop-up store located in Nantes.
And this is just the beginning.”We plan to make DTT accessible on mobile within three years, and thus meet the needs of younger people in terms of content consumption. We are delighted to collaborate with various publishers, including France Télévisions, for this live test which underlines our commitment to maintaining DTT and spreading its service offering to a wider audience,” said Karim El Naggar, general director of audiovisual and networks at the TDF group.
This is not the first experience of this kind. For several years, towerCasta subsidiary of the NRJ group specializing in digital radio and television broadcasting, is conducting tests in France. In May 2022, the operator had organized a live broadcast of the Eurovision song contest 2022in partnership with Rohde & Schwarza specialist in media transmission and broadcasting technologies – and Qualcommthe giant of mobile chips and wireless communication. Why Quaclomm? Because, to receive DTT, smartphones must be equipped with a 5G Broadcast compatible chip.
The aim of these experiments – which were successful – is to show the potential of 5G Broadcast. And, above all, its advantages over “classic” streaming. Indeed, in addition to the fact that it avoids cluttering the Internet with individual streams, this technology can operate in different modes, including reception only, and, even more interestingly, without a SIM card, therefore without a telephone plan! And for good reason, despite the name 5G, it does not use the mobile communication network, but an autonomous broadcasting infrastructure of the High Power High Tower (HPHT) type operating on the UHF (Ultra High Frequency) band. In other words, a network of specific antennas (placed on “high points”) exploiting specific frequency bands. Exactly like DAB and DTT!
5G Broadcast: Multiple Uses and Benefits
Additionally, as towerCast explained, 5G Broadcast is not limited to just streaming linear or live content. “For network operators and media content providers, it offers a new business model opportunity to broadcast content or data to an unlimited number of viewers without affecting the regular 5G cellular mobile network. The terminal and automotive sectors are particularly well suited for this consumer-oriented advancement, while the SIM-free reception mode offers emergency services and national authorities more secure ways to broadcast alert messages in the event of natural disasters or emergencies.”we can read in the company’s press release.
“We are convinced that 5G Broadcast offers new perspectives for the entire French television ecosystem. This new live experience, complementary to what we know today, will make it possible to expand the consumption of live content to a new, more mobile audience.”adds Hugues Martinet, CEO of towerCast. As we can see, 5G Broadcast has much broader potential than simply broadcasting live television in linear – the old way –, in particular by allowing the transport of voice and data, for applications embedded in vehicles, for example.
But it’s not all won yet. On the one hand, it is necessary to free up frequencies dedicated to 5G Broadcast. A sensitive subject when you know that the bands are fiercely coveted by operators – like all the “pipes” used to broadcast data. The frequencies used for the demonstrations were only authorized on an experimental and temporary basis. Then, it is necessary to use compatible mobiles. More precisely, equipped with chips managing 5G Broadcast – the equivalent of TNT/DAB receivers. And if the smartphones used for the tests obviously had special Qualcomm circuits, this is not at all the case for the models currently on sale in stores, whether they are from Apple, Samsung or others. Clearly, it will be necessary to convince the major manufacturers to adopt this technology to hope to see it become popular one day. Because without suitable receivers, the best transmitters will be useless…
5G Broadcast: the best alternative to streaming?
For now, towerCast and its partners are doubling their efforts to convince other market players. By targeting the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris for more spectacular and more attractive full-scale demonstrations. And we must hope that the file will advance quickly in the coming years, because 5G Broadcast is really promising, in particular by making it possible to relieve congestion on fixed and mobile networks to massively broadcast shared audio-video content digitally. Unfortunately, it is not certain that the technical and “economic” arguments are enough to convince operators and consumers, especially when we see the success of individual on-demand services – whether streaming, transport or even meal delivery. Many viewers watch live television via their Internet box when they could also do so, with the same quality and for free, via DTT – most often through ignorance or laziness. And the sad story of digital radio – which has still not managed to become popular despite its early days in the mid-1980s – does not give much hope in the face of the growing consumption of audio content on podcast and streaming platforms.