In many ways, 5G has already become an industry standard for contribution links. There has been significant investment by broadcasters and production companies in bonded-cellular video transmitters for use on public 4G/5G networks, which are now regularly used to replace satellite links for on-location newsgathering. Being IP-based solutions, they can integrate well into existing workflows or modern cloud-based production environments.
With the ubiquity of public networks, deployment and operation are very straightforward, but sharing network capacity with the rest of the mobile network operator’s customers can become challenging in high-demand density environments. As dynamic quality-of-service (QoS) management and network slicing become more prevalent, operating in these environments will be possible, but for a very limited number of devices, and the operating costs for this service are not yet clear.
The use of private 5G standalone networks is set to revolutionise wireless connectivity at events and for live production, and the technology has now been successfully demonstrated for several different production workflows at several very high-profile productions, including the Coronation of King Charles III and across Paris and Marseille last year, but their day-to-day use hasn’t quite taken off yet.
Overcoming inertia
With any new technology, there can be an inertia to overcome before it becomes mainstream, and this is no exception. While the possibilities offered by private 5G are very attractive, particularly around spectrum management and resource sharing to simultaneously support many workflows and services using the same infrastructure, there is an established, tried-and-tested way of doing things, as well as a wealth of knowledge and experience using those systems. There isn’t really any technical challenge to overcome with 5G for broadcast production, it’s more about developing confidence and experience using the technology. In fact, an experienced COFDM engineer recently commented on the “astonishing robustness” offered by private 5G, but deploying and using the network is very different to point-to-point links.
This need for confidence and experience extends to spectrum regulation, too, with the need for quicker access to suitable spectrum for short-duration pop-up deployments. The use of private 5G to support day-to-day programme-making and special events (PMSE) activities has been impeded by delays in access to spectrum using the shared access licence (SAL), and has been a barrier to adoption as companies can’t guarantee the regular use needed to deliver suitable return on their investment. Indeed, the UK regulator, Ofcom, recently held a consultation on opening spectrum in n40 (2.3–2.4 GHz) with PMSE-style licensing to support exactly these use cases. This presents a welcome opportunity for private 5G to be put through its paces and become part of the regular toolkit.
Moreover, access to spectrum outside the UK has been challenging, with regulations (and required hardware) varying from country to country. The recent ECC Decision (24) 01 harmonises the use of 3.8–4.2 GHz across CEPT member countries, and will make at least part of this upper n77 band available for low- and medium-power private networks throughout Europe. This removes uncertainty and ambiguity going forward and allows production companies to confidently invest in equipment that can be used in more places. Hopefully, the licensing mechanisms being designed to support access to this spectrum will take onboard learnings from licensing in the UK and offer some support for short-duration pop-up networks to facilitate events and live production.
It should be noted that public and private networks are not really competing technologies. They serve different purposes and use cases, with each a useful tool to have depending on the production needs and environment. They could in fact be highly complementary at different stages in the production workflow.
Looking towards the future of wireless connectivity, it’s tempting to start asking about 6G. While 6G is expected to include features that will be attractive to the broadcast industry, the standards are still being finalised, and it will be a while before any commercial devices will be available. Even when they are, it is also uncertain which features from the standard will be implemented by the modems used in user equipment, as they typically do not implement the full specification. There are many attractive features of 5G releases 17 and 18 that are not (yet) actually implemented in user devices. However, the move to IP-based wireless workflows using 5G will facilitate a simpler progression to 6G when it arrives, without the same inertia as transitioning from conventional wireless technologies to 5G.
