European broadcasters have signed a memorandum of understanding, drafting a roadmap for the use of 5G technology during major events taking place in 2024. German Public broadcasters Southwest Broadcasting (SWR) and Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), France Televisions, Italy’s RAI, NPO of the Netherlands, RTE in Ireland and ORF/ORS in Austria have signed the memorandum of intent to introduce new 5G broadcasting applications. These will supplement existing DTT deployments.

The companies plan to develop 5G broadcast applications and commercial use cases for the Summer Olympics in Paris and the UEFA European Football Championship in Germany. These will help broadcasters assess whether they should introduce new transmission standard within the coming few years.

Wider use cases

Michael Wagenhofer, the managing director for the ORS Group, said the goal is to enable an European 5G Broadcast ecosystem for public media, cultural operators, creatives and audiovisual content providers that will make 5G broadband market-ready. The future-proof development would also make new use cases and businesses models available for car-entertainment systems, emergency warning and information services, as well as for the metaverse.

For audiovisual content, Wagenhofer said, he technology would enable the delivery of content and data to a large number of consumers in a “crisis-proof” matter during live events, for example, without affecting the 5G mobile network. Again, these 5G Broadcast-based services would supplement existing DTT deployments and advance terrestrial networks for an IP-driven future.Ā 

The basis for interference-free broadcasting is the UHF frequency spectrum between 470 MHz and 694 MHz, used for live productions by cultural institutions.

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