In written submissions to an Icasa inquiry into the future of digital terrestrial broadcasting in South Africa, both MultiChoice Group and eMedia mentioned 5G Broadcast as an important technology for the communications regulator to consider as it seeks to amend DTT regulations introduced in 2012.
But what exactly is 5G Broadcast and how will its introduction affect the local broadcasting landscape, especially regarding the allocation of scare spectrum in the sub-694MHz bands - traditionally used for analogue broadcasting?
"5G Broadcast is based on the 3 rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) LTE-based 5G Terrestrial Broadcast Service standard. It enables the distribution of linear media content via large radio cells with a radius of up to 60km. A single data stream is broadcast using a high-tower, high-power transmitter. All mobile devices within the coverage area of this transmitter can receive the programmes distributed via this data stream," explained an article by ORS Group. ORS is a terrestrial signal distribution company - similar to Sentech - that has been testing 5GB technology in Europe since 2020.
In a similar vein, 5GB also requires devices that have the appropriate chipset to interpret the incoming 5G signal, leading to similar device affordability issues.
"You need a software-defined radio (SDR) or a smartphone with the needed decoding circuitry, and those phones don't exist yet. Will phone designers add that without a clear demand or need for it, in a classic 'chicken and egg' dilemma? Every added function increases cost, design complexity and power consumption, three big barriers in an already crowded and power-hungry device," according to an article on Planet Analog, an online community for semiconductor and system designers.
