Broadcast and media service provider Media Broadcast has launched a pilot project distributing TV programmes via 5G.
The pilot project is based on a tender from the Media Authority of Saxony-Anhalt, in which digital terrestrial transmission capacities were awarded to Media Broadcast allowing the company to test distribution via 5G.
As part of the project, Media Broadcast is testing different system parameters around transmission speed and power consumption. In order to be able to transmit as many programmes as possible via a 5G broadcast channel, the company also intends to carry out tests on programme quality and variety. Disaster protection warnings, which can be sent out via 5G broadcast at any time, will also be integrated into the test scenarios, it said.
The 5G broadcast signal is transmitted via the existing antenna at the Halle Kraftwerk site, which is also used to broadcast DVB-T2 antenna television. The existing DVB-T2 infrastructure can also be used for 5G broadcast with minor alterations, said the company.
“With the start of the pilot operation, we have taken an important step forward in the development of 5G broadcast,” said Francie Petrick, managing director of Media Broadcast.
“5G broadcast has several advantages as a transmission method and therefore has the potential to be in demand among users in the future. The technology is already of great interest worldwide and many countries are intensively dealing with this topic. In Europe, activities relating to 5G broadcast are taking place in Italy, France, Austria and Spain, among others, and we are jointly developing the technology further at European level.”
