move away from this mobile-centric view of
beneficiary. Bandwidth and latency are key
the world,” advises Pescatore. “Convergence
aspects of a richer experience,
represents the next battle ground.
and the capabilities of 5G will
Networks are converging underpinned
enable things like richer AR/
by fibre broadband gigabit connectivity
VR experiences and thin client
serving users across a broad range of
gaming served from the cloud.”
devices and other networks including 5G.
“The introduction of 5G will
It represents one of the few areas of
transform how broadcasters
future growth for all providers.
operate in television
All eyes are now on mmWave
production, especially in
which is being positioned as
broadcasting live events,”
the ‘best’ of 5G, a topic that
advises Forrest. “Today
will emerge as a strong theme
those broadcasters
“5G will cut the
throughout 2020 and beyond
increasingly use wireless
latency down to
as telcos roll out networks.”
networks for a diverse
milliseconds, is
“With theoretical data
range of tasks: everything
barely noticeable.”
rates for 5G in the 10-50Gbps
from uploading a single
range, it’s clear that it can play - Kieran Kunhya,
news story from the field to
a major part,” says Meardi.
transmitting entire remote
Open Broadcast
“However, in addition to the
live broadcasts. Much of
Systems
technology to provide wireless
this has been feasible on
connections in this range,
4G LTE networks to date,
backbone infrastructure must also expand
however the migration to 5G networks will
massively in order to provide the bandwidth
significantly enhance the reliability of those
necessary to support an ever-growing number
wireless data transmissions while massively
of devices accessing data services. This will
increasing bandwidth capabilities for more
all take significant time as investment is a
data-intensive applications, such as point-
finite resource and will be dependent on other
to-point links that are frequently carried via
economic growth factors. If we want to be
microwave, fibre or satellite connections.”
realistic and forget about rare instances of
According to Forrest, three major
peak connectivity, 4G today often struggles
features of 5G make it practical for adoption
to deliver hundreds of kilobits of sustained
in television production: the gigabit
connectivity. The practical sustained data rates
performance; the low end-to-end latency;
that most 5G devices will be able to see for
and most importantly network slicing – new
the next few years will be more in the range of
to 5G – that reserves guaranteed bandwidth
megabits than gigabits. This is already a great
for broadcast applications. “Trials in stadia
improvement over 4G, but it still requires
today make use of 5G transmitters carried
efficient use of bandwidth.”
in the backpack of the cameraman; these are
CONTENT. In terms of the role 5G can
connected to dedicated, localised receiver
play in content production, contribution
antenna arrays erected around the stadium.
and distribution, Everson notes that it
From there the video stream is routed
provides faster speeds, lower latency,
onto fibre networks and across the
and more secure and protected wireless
Internet for relay to production
communications. “Broadcast obviously
studios.”
benefits with higher quality experiences
SLICING. “As 5G networks are
being enabled with this flexibility,
rolled out more widely, network
but it will help across all media types.
slicing will be employed on local
Remote production will be a major
cell towers providing a protected
beneficiary. Beyond wireless cameras,
portion of bandwidth specifically
the on-demand flexibility will
for TV production, carrying
allow even greater creativity
the traffic that would
for a richer experience. 5G will
ordinarily have been
be cheaper and easier than
backhauled over satellite
satellite uplinks. Distribution
links connected via
is already taking on new
outside broadcast (OB)
“5G brings new
forms. We see examples with
trucks. Once commercial
capabilities to the
live events, including rich AR
5G networks are fully
whole ecosystem
experiences, multiple camera
operational, much of
allowing new
angles and supplemental
the complicated and
applications.” -
content. This will expand with
expensive backhaul
more robust wireless, and this
infrastructure can be
Mohamed Aziz
rich media will be extended
dispensed with. Moreover,
Taga, Rohde &
to those outside live events as
5G affords broadcasters the
Schwartz
well. Gaming will be another
opportunity to relay live
video directly to production studios, opening
up a wider range of coverage possibilities and
simultaneously reducing costs by minimising
the number of technical staff required at
each event. Without a need for tethering,
5G-enabled professional cameras are instantly
more mobile, meaning that a typical eight
camera production might instead be covered
by only four.”
“For TV broadcasters and content
providers, 5G creates significant opportunity
to broaden their reach across a wide range of
end devices; for mobile network operators,
it expands their service portfolio by building
upon existing networks and resources; and
for consumers, it affords them access to
even richer content on their smartphones,
tablets and TVs. More importantly, mobile
Data: Commercial 5G
services in 40 Countries
The Global mobile Suppliers
Association (GSA) - which represents
companies across the worldwide
mobile ecosystem - has confirmed that
a total of 70 operators in 40 countries
have now launched 3GPP-compliant
5G networks delivering fully mobile
5G services, FWA/home broadband
services or both.
Of these commercial networks, GSA
data records that there are now 63
operators live with 3GPP-compliant
5G mobile services (57 full launches,
six limited availability launches), while
34 have launched 3GPP-compliant 5G
FWA or home broadband services (27
full launches, seven limited availability
launches). By the end of March 2020,
the GSA GAMBoD database included
detailed data and analysis on a total of
381 operators in 123 countries that are
investing in 5G.
“5G remains on track to become the
fastest adopted mobile technology
ever,” said Joe Barrett, President, GSA.
“Not only are we seeing milestone after
milestone being passed in 5G network
deployments, but also in commercial
5G device launches. This month alone
we’ve hit 70 operators with live 5G
services and over 250 announced
5G devices, of which at least 67
are commercially available today.
Regulators, operators and vendors
are all working hard so that this year
will see more spectrum auctioned or
allocated, more 5G mobile and fixed
wireless access services launched,
and even more devices across all form
factors come to market.”
EUROMEDIA 13