This report sheds light on frequency planning of 5G Broadcast networks, including sharing and compatibility between 5G Broadcast and DTT in the spectrum range 470 – 694 MHz.
The way in which the content and services of Public Service Media (PSM) organizations are delivered is evolving, particularly driven by the popularity of personal devices (smartphones, tablets) for accessing audiovisual (AV) media.
PSM organisations have tried to establish full access to such devices by including a broadcast receiver within them. All these attempts, which used different broadcast technologies: DVB-H, MediaFlo, ISDB-T Seg1, DVB-T2 Lite etc., have been unsuccessful.
Whilst PSM content and services can be accessed on smartphones and tablets, this is only under conditions that do not comply with the fundamental requirements of PSM organizations. In particular, the need to deliver linear services free-to-air to all audiences, everywhere and at any time. This so called universality principle lies at the core of the PSM remit.
LTE-based 5G Terrestrial Broadcast (abbreviated to “5G Broadcast” in this report), developed and specified as part of the general mobile communication technology of 3GPP, is a broadcast mode of operation that seems to be a promising candidate for allowing all PSM services, both linear and nonlinear, to reach smartphones and tablets.
Before adopting this new technology it is crucial for PSMs to understand what the implications of such a decision would be. This refers to the potential and pitfalls of this new audiovisual distribution option in terms of technology, regulatory constraints and business implications.
The network planning aspects, including studies on coverage and capacity offered by different network topologies for 5G Broadcast are dealt with in a separate EBU Technical Report, TR 063.
Information on the status of 5G standardization, including 5G Broadcast, and deployment opportunities can be found in EBU Technical Report TR 054 “5G for the Distribution of Audiovisual Media content and services”.
Key Words: LTE, 5G Broadcast, Digital Terrestrial Television, DTT, coexistence, interference, Digital Dividend, GE06 allocation, Interleaved spectrum, Band segmentation.
