5G Broadcast handset taskforce publishes receiver profile
September 2, 2024
The European 5G Broadcast handset taskforce, gathering EBU and BNE members, has published a 5G Broadcast receiver profile for use by companies within the broadcast ecosystem that are preparing for a roll-out of 5G Broadcast services in Europe. The taskforce says the receiver profile is a major milestone for the introduction of smartphones with 5G Broadcast reception functionality in Europe.
5G Broadcast has been ready for commercial rollout since early 2023. Standardisation has been largely completed, trial operations by the leading broadcasters in Europe have been underway for several years, and the first smartphone prototypes including essential features of 5G Broadcast have already been developed.
The broadcast ecosystem benefits from harmonised technical requirements for the end-user devices (mobile phones), to ensure compatibility across Europe, therefore also allowing a sustainable business model for broadcasters and broadcast network operators. Members of the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) and BNE (Broadcast Networks Europe) – from France with France Télévisions and TDF, from Italy with RAI and EITowers, from Germany with Media Broadcast, and from Austria with ORS, have formed a working group to establish a common receiver profile for 5G Broadcast in Europe – also with the support of Qualcomm Technologies.
As a result, a 5G Broadcast receiver profile for Europe has now been finalised and submitted to 5G-MAG, the industry association which, among other tasks, oversees the development and maintenance of the 5G Broadcast specification (ETSI TS 103 720). The profile is publicly available on the 5G-MAG GitHub page and open for review and feedback from the European broadcast industry. The common goal is to add this profile into the next version of the ETSI specification to clearly communicate the European requirements for a profile that seeks to ensure harmonisation across Europe to allow and encourage chipset and CE manufactures to incorporate the profile in their development roadmaps.
“The development and introduction of 5G Broadcast […] has been supported by several EBU Members in a series of trials in Europe since 2020,” commented Antonio Arcidiacono, CTO and CIO at EBU. “The Olympic large-scale demo of [this summer] in France, with hundreds of consumer devices, is marking a key evolution moving towards market introduction. The definition of the European profile gives a clear indication to all Chipset and CE manufacturers on the market needs in Europe. The launch of a 24H/7 demonstration service in five main urban areas in Italy in 2025 will further accelerate the implementation of 5G Broadcast in the development roadmaps of key manufacturers.”
Lars Backlund, Secretary General at BNE, said: “BNE supports 5G Broadcast as part of our innovation roadmap. In addition to spectrum security and along with roll out and investments in 5G Broadcast transmission infrastructure, the broadcast network operators also support the development of a viable handset ecosystem. Having a common receiver profile across Europe is a necessary element to achieve this goal.”
And Lorenzo Casaccia, VP, Technical Standards, Qualcomm Europe, added: “The collaboration among Europe’s major broadcasters and broadcast network operators to harmonise 5G Broadcast receiver requirements marks a pivotal advancement for 5G Broadcast ecosystem. This unified effort will be an invaluable resource for developers, receiver manufacturers and infrastructure vendors, propelling the commercial deployment of 5G Broadcast technology worldwide.”