TRENDS ///


Broadcast Moving Forward


/// By Davide Moro


he FORECAST’13 seminar staged by the European Broadcasting Union late last year focused as usual on what the future might hold for broadcast


technologies. This time, the event’s headline – Mission Critical for Public Service Media -- warned about the potential seriousness of the situation for broadcasters. The event at EBU headquarters in Geneva was well-attended. More than 110 delegates from broadcasters, network operators, manufacturers, national regulators, policymakers and research labs attended. FORECAST ‘13 opened with


a reminder of why the discussions about spectrum use and broadcast technologies are so important. The reason: Recent World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC) have resulted in a potentially progressive reduction path in the spectrum available for broadcasting. EBU Media Director Annika


Nyberg Frankenhaeuser, in her keynote presentation, reminded the delegates that the EBU's mission is to make Public Service Media indispensable. She also stressed the importance of a sustainable terrestrial platform in making this indispensability a reality. Many EBU members rely on


digital terrestrial emissions to fulfil their statutory universal coverage, with guaranteed quality of service and free-to- air accessibility. The time has come to consider how to secure the future of digital terrestrial platforms. The 800 MHz band has


already been cleared in Europe for mobile telecommunications and, following last year's decision at WRC-12, the 700 MHz band is set to follow a


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similar path in many countries. According to the EBU, any further erosion of the spectrum available for broadcasting would significantly constrain the ability of DTT to compete and to develop in the future. Technology convergence


actually means more divergence in distribution for EBU members: More platforms to cover, more types of service to produce and more costs – and all with less funding.


TV Technology Asia-Pacific I April 2014


Who will benefit from the money mobile viewers will eventually pay for the service?


Broadcasters must have a role to play in meeting the demand of wireless data delivery in the future.


But this is just the lesser


threat: Still accustomed to being the incumbent parties safely within their allocated ‘home range’ – that is, their spectrum -- broadcasters need


to accept that nowadays there is no safe home range. Moreover, the ever-increasing pressure on spectrum from mobile services is something broadcasters can no longer


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