Television broadcasters may have a new way to reach the cordless generation: 5G. In July, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted Massachusetts’ low-power television network a six-month license to unidirectionally transmit video and other data in accordance with 5G protocols over portions of ultra-high frequency (UHF). granted an experimental license. Band via TV Tower.
TV broadcasters could use TV hardware and spectrum to meet some of the voracious consumer demand for Internet video streaming, freeing up network bands of spectrum previously used for two-way cellular signals. Some of the width is freed up and new business opportunities are created. The FCC granted a similar license to Sinclair Broadcast Group in 2021, and Czech carrier CRA also began broadcasting to mobile phones earlier this year.
Low-power TV networks, which already target audiences that the big broadcasters don’t, may find a way to make 5G work.
Frank Copsidas, CEO of XGen Networks, said the transmission of one-way video to mobile devices provides new options for transmitting information during emergencies for both governments and businesses. XGen, along with Milachi Media, operates a low-power television station using a new experimental license. “This launch is all a proof of concept,” Kopsidas said. “We’re building a streaming linear programming station and a data platform centered around first responders.”
Hypothetically, emergency dispatchers could potentially transmit closed-circuit or drone footage via private 5G broadcasts to emergency responders via TV towers, even when local cellular networks are down. there is. Outside of emergency situations, a sports broadcaster can also offload local event transmissions to his UHF band during major matches, reducing strain on other frequency bands within the 5G standard.
The UHF band covers frequencies from 300 MHz to 3 GHz, with the portion from 470 MHz to 608 MHz allocated to television broadcasts in the United States. 5G networks operate in several frequency bands, including (in the US) low-band frequencies from 600 to 900 MHz, mid-band frequencies from 2.5 to 4.2 GHz, and high-band frequencies from 24 GHz to 47 GHz.
“We’ve seen 5G transform the automotive, retail, and medical and healthcare industries one after another. 5G and TV make as much sense as anything else,” says Atlanta. says industry analyst Jeff Kagan. Kagan said cable TV has been in the works for nearly a decade, and the Internet has been under pressure from streaming, and now that streaming services are experiencing a post-pandemic decline, these companies are struggling to reach viewers. He says he needs to find another way.
5G isn’t the only new broadcast format being considered for TV. “The major broadcasters in the United States are focused on switching from ATSC 1.0 to ATSC 3.0,” he says Copsidas. ATSC 3.0 is the first all-Internet protocol television standard. It was launched during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and is capable of transmitting 4K resolution images and high-quality audio. By comparison, TV over 5G probably won’t be as stable or capable, Kopsidas says.
However, ATSC 3.0 and TV over 5G may not directly compete.Research published in IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting In June, we found out that 5G is more expensive than ATSC 3.0, but because phones and tablets don’t receive ATSC 3.0 signals, 5G could reach people in places and devices that ATSC 3.0 can’t reach. there is. Low-power TV networks are already targeting audiences that major broadcasters don’t, but he could figure out how to make 5G work, including hard-to-reach audiences, such as on first responder platforms. Additional services may be available. Similar to what XGen planned.
In fact, it will probably be possible to decide on the fly how best to transmit a particular TV signal, depending on where the user is and how much demand there is for content at any given time. “We already have an app for that, which allows us to analyze where the demand is for a particular program and whether it makes more sense to send it over 5G broadcast or the internet,” Kopsidas said. Masu.
It will take several years for the hardware to mature, as global mobile standards-setting body 3GPP will determine the protocol for 5G TV signals as part of Release 18, and chipmakers will then integrate it into their chips. It will take a while. These chips allow mobile devices to receive signals from today’s television antennas.
Proposals for switching between ATSC 3.0 and 5G broadcasting also date back at least two years and could become part of future 5G protocols. Sinclair Broadcast Group in the US started working on the convergence of ATSC 3.0 and 5G with South Korean partner SK Telecom in 2019, initially focusing on in-vehicle infotainment systems, but has since expanded to 5G TV. has entered into a partnership with Samkhya Labs for testing. (Castella, a partnership entity between Sinclair and SK Telecom, did not respond to a request for comment.)
“This is something we probably should have started years ago,” Kagan said.
This article was updated on August 11, 2023 to clarify the range of the UHF spectrum.
This story was updated on August 22, 2023.
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