A new report from the European Broadcasting Union suggests a 5G Broadcast system could be safely introduced alongside existing DTT in the contested UHF band.
The report also states that existing broadcast towers could be used to significantly enhance the coverage and minimise the cost of 5G roll-out.
In its report the EBU states existing broadcast infrastructure (High Power High Tower and Medium Power Medium Tower) could have a role to play in 5G Broadcast and that testing should continue.
“HPHT and MPMT contribute to cost efficiency, but for good coverage in all environments, they should be complemented with Low Power Low Tower (i.e. cellular networks) particularly in urban environments,” adds the report.
It adds that due to practical and regulatory constraints at national and regional boundaries, hybrid 5G broadcast networks could be partially operated in MFN (Multiple Frequency Networks). “Although this lowers the spectral efficiency below that achievable by pure SFN (Single Frequency Networks) setups, the gains would outweigh the losses,” it says.
The full report is available to read here.
