OPPORTUNITIES. “The promises made
for 5G are based on the fact that it could solve
the first and last-mile problems: providing
a wireless link that facilitates a whole range
of services, from HDTV to IoT, including to
cars,” notes Juliet Walker, CMO, Globecast.
“But today the networks are still being rolled
out. The first consumer opportunities are
likely to be in gaming, augmented reality and
automotive with the opportunity for strong
growth in ‘fixed wireless’ supported home
WiFi in countries or regions where fibre is not
already widely deployed.”
According to Walker, a key component of
5G is the ability for the network to support
many more concurrent connections than
4G, which has huge benefits for IoT. “But
it’s still very early days with a lot of testing
being carried out. From a B2B perspective,
network slicing will be critical to deliver on the
promise of guaranteed bandwidth for critical
applications, but it’s likely that won’t be rolled
out by a lot of operators in the early stages,”
she suggests.
“A key application for 5G is video, based
on the increased amount of bandwidth that
the next-generation technology provides,”
asserts Thierry Fautier, vice president of
video strategy, Harmonic. “Today, it’s not
uncommon for the quality of live video
streaming to suffer from low resolution issues
when delivered over 4G networks. With 5G,
it will be possible to deliver 4K UHD quality
video; however, most smartphones today only
support 1440p, so we expect 1080p to initially
be available to all 5G devices, with an option
for 4K UHD when connectivity allows it.”
VR. “Virtual reality (VR) and 8K also show
promise for 5G,” he adds. “We expect that 5G
networks will drive the delivery of immersive
personalised 8K streaming services. Using
advanced content-aware encoding, you can
send the full sphere at a reasonable bitrate
to 8K head-mounted devices or 5G mobile
devices. This was showcased at the 2019
French Tennis Open, where Harmonic joined
France Télévisions, Fédération Française de
Tennis (FFT), Orange and 18 other global
technology partners to demonstrate the first
ever delivery of live 8K video on 5G networks.”
“We believe that within the media and
entertainment vertical, live sports, both ‘as is’
and when enriched with AR, and eGaming,
will be early adopters,” reports Baruch Altman,
AVP R&D, LiveU. “The mass market is there
and very quickly growing. High-end sports
contribution and remote production, use cases
that LiveU serves, will also benefit from the
bandwidth to be provided by 5G, especially
when using ‘bonding’, to secure the resiliency
and sustainability. These applications require
consistent quality video coupled with very low
latency. Other applications may come to life in
this area, like full-screen, high-quality social
networks video or co-production of user-
public safety multicast, such as urgent weather
generated content. We expect AR to enhance
and community information, simplifying the
the viewing experience as well as shared
relationship between community members
video consumption in social ways. Edge
and public authorities. Several other services
computing, broader spectrum, massive MIMO
could be optimised while using multicast over
and multicast will support a higher number
5G, including OTA multicast for centralised
of simultaneous viewers under various
configuration and control, live commerce and
conditions,” he adds.
rural e-learning where no Internet connection
MWC. According to Seth Wallis-Jones,
is available. In addition, 5G multicast enables
principal analyst, telecommunications, Omdia,
venue casting where the consumer can
5G fixed wireless is going to help deliver
combine live experience with home comfort.”
premium video experiences more than you can
“Based on discussions with our video
get over a current LTE network, suggesting
service provider customers, we believe that
that LTE already provides a good experience
personalised video advertising will be a key
in most cases. “People buying 5G devices
area of opportunity for 5G,” reveals Jim
and using services are high-end users,” he
Brickmeier, chief product and marketing
notes. “It’s a self-selecting market. They are
officer at Velocix. “Video already accounts
using more data, higher caps and speeds.” He
for nearly two-thirds of mobile data traffic,
reports that a number of vendors were likely
and the rollout of 5G networks is expected
to have exhibited AR/VR kit at the cancelled
to extend this dominance by improving the
MWC event in Barcelona that would have
viewing experience at home and on-the-go.
taken advantage of the benefits of 5G.
Consumers’ seemingly insatiable appetite
According to Paolo Pescatore, TMT analyst
for content will drive a further surge in video
at PP Foresight, in essence services such
traffic over the next couple of years, reaching
as premium video; in-car entertainment;
nearly 80 per cent of mobile network data
augmented/virtual reality; digital advertising;
by the end of 2022. We expect video service
gaming; video calling are already available.
providers will harness this new viewership
“All 5G does is allow them to happen with a
to drive increased video revenue by inserting
far faster, reliable and robust connection,” he
ads that are more contextual and relevant to
contends. “Huge uncertainty remains given
the user. This will require new Programmatic
that margins are squeezed and the business
TV advertising technology that can automate
model for 5G in the consumer segment is
the ad sales process and support the more
unclear. But businesses will hugely benefit
granular targeting parameters required to
from 5G. It opens up new use cases and allows
drive higher revenues.”
businesses to transform their own operations
“5G is still very conceptual in many
to better serve users. The network can be
people’s minds, but the technology is already
divided to provide a dedicated slice for private
having a transformative impact on video
networks with applications in industrial
distribution,” suggests Ariff Sidi, general
IoT, enterprise networking, and critical
manager and chief product officer, media
communications.”
platform at Verizon Media. “The deployment
“5G is for sure promising to provide new
of next-generation networks is going to
and original technological and business
transform the way we experience live events.
opportunities,” states Mohamed Aziz Taga,
Greater bandwidth, connection density and
product manager for 5G broadcast and
lower last-mile latency connectivity will lead
transmitter systems at Rohde & Schwartz.
to cutting edge user experiences, like in-event
“But 5G brings new broadcast and multicast
AR, greater reliability and higher bitrates
capabilities to the whole ecosystem
for improved streaming quality.
allowing other new applications:
Verizon Media ran a 5G demo in the
Live Video distribution is of course
Hard Rock Stadium during Super
of high importance, nevertheless,
Bowl LIV, with real-time streaming
5G Broadcast/Multicast does not
and multiple camera views. It wasn’t
necessarily mean mobile TV.”
large scale as 5G devices aren’t
OTA. “Indeed, it does not only
widespread yet, but 5G will support a
deliver media and entertainment to
greater density of devices in stadiums
smartphones but also reaches
than 4G,” he advises.
smart vehicles with
“Social networking,
OTA updates, media
video calling, and video
and entertainment
collaboration will
inside the car and map
certainly continue to
“The transition to 5G
updates. Live event
drive higher and higher
multicasting makes
volumes of traffic, with
presents many security
more sense while using
consumer appetite for
challenges for CSPs.” -
this feature and 5G
Michael Schachter, Allot much higher qualities
Broadcast can transmit
than what is possible with
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