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LTE BROADCAST
ISSUE 03 2014
In February this year, Vodafone Germany conducted the first live European trial of LTE Broadcast at a football match. Together with Ericsson, Qualcomm and Samsung, Vodafone allowed the crowd in the stadium to watch instant replays of goals or other incidents during the game
LTE Broadcast presents a relatively painless way for network operators to add a new service. It doesn’t require the tedious creation of new standards, it doesn’t involve the rollout of extensive video overlay networks, and it shouldn’t require major and expensive changes to the radio access network. Oh, and consumers don’t need to buy specially enabled handsets.
Whilst switching to an OTT messaging service like WhatsApp isn’t going to dent your monthly data allocation, heavy use of BBC iPlayer whilst on cellular networks will cause major damage to your monthly bill
providers, and to do so on their terms. This approach hasn’t worked with messaging (the tortuous development of RCS being an example), so why would it be any different with video?
The main difference here is that video is bandwidth hungry. Whilst switching to an OTT messaging service like WhatsApp isn’t going to dent your monthly data allocation, heavy use of BBC iPlayer whilst on cellular networks will cause major damage to your monthly bill. Mobile service providers are increasingly moving away from unlimited data tariffs to capped models, even with LTE.
There was a time when mobile broadcast involved simply routing video traffic over the cellular network; that was it. Now though, operators and broadcasters are thinking a bit harder about what is actually required and how mobile can provide a useful solution that stands a good chance of actually making money.
All of these problems plagued the adoption of earlier attempts at mobile video. Looking at the list of obstacles, it’s no wonder they all failed. Of course there will be additional network investment with LTE Broadcast – video is a data-hungry medium and multicast/broadcast still requires additional network elements. But the extra investment should be minimal.
A note of caution though; LTE Broadcast is still (Korea being the exception) in the trial phase. During this phase, operators and vendors will remain coy about the feedback and results. The technology and business models are not yet proven. This year could well be make or break for LTE Broadcast. Let’s hope it doesn’t suffer the same fate as its predecessors. LTE
Guy Daniels Guy Daniels is a freelance journalist and videographer with over 22 years of experience in the telecoms media industry. In 1991 he joined Telecommunications International magazine, before leaving to become editor of Middle East Communications. In 1995 he joined Communications International as deputy editor, and created the wireless magazine Roam. In 1998 he become editorial director of Mobile Communications International. In 2001, he co- founded Decisive Media and TelecomTV. In 2008 he wrote and directed the Mobile Planet feature-length documentary film, and co-wrote the accompanying book. He followed this with the Green Planet: ICTs for a Low Carbon Society documentary and web series in 2010, and the Connected States of America series in 2011. During the past 10 years, he has specialised in on-screen presenting, interviewing, panel moderating and live webcast hosting. He has anchored, produced and participated in several live TV shows, including the Mobile World Congress service.
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