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Although promoted as an enabler of the Internet
of Things and a range of autonomous activities,
the deployment of 5G also has the capacity to
be a whole new disruptor for the media and
entertainment business. Colin Mann spoke to
range of industry insiders to find out what are
the opportunities for media on the move.
The Famous 5(G)
W
hat areas are most likely to benefit
applications will benefit the most from 5G. “It
from 5G? Niklas Björkén, director
is clear that 5G will be a booster for all video
innovations, Accedo, suggests
applications. The leap forward in radio access
that 5G is going to transform completely the
capacity that 5G provides, will immediately
viewing experience by relieving one of the
bring a breath of fresh air to the video-
primary VoD challenges: bandwidth. “Data-
over-cellular user experience, whatever the
heavy features, including AR/VR, eSports, and
application is. This being said, we see three
holographic video, will particularly benefit
early-adopter applications gaining traction:
from the technology and, if executed properly,
regular adaptive bitrate (ABR) mobile video
will lead to significantly enhanced broadcasts
streaming, fixed wireless access pay-TV
and improved user experiences.”
services, and remote video production.”
“5G is also likely to create new
ACCESSIBILITY. Bob Everson, senior
opportunities for broadcasters within IoT;
director, 5G Architecture, Cisco, says
in-vehicle entertainment systems, interactive
that in the near term, the faster speed
billboards, and wearable
of 5G for enhanced
products are all examples
mobile broadband, will
of new ways to deliver
increase accessibility and
great viewing experiences.
consumption of higher
Adapting to and delivering
quality content. “In-car
the latest technologies
entertainment is one
will make broadcasters’
niche, but in a mobile
services stand apart from
world, we’re already not
competitors. However, it
limited to specific places
is important to carefully
to consume content. As
consider if and how these
5G deployments expand
new technologies will add
and coverage becomes
real value to consumers.
more widespread, gaming
It doesn’t matter how
and AR/VR applications
interesting or fun something
are the next leading
is - if the feature isn’t useful
candidates to benefit.
and beneficial to users, it will
There’s a virtuous cycle
“Features, including with capacity driving new
quickly be abandoned for
AR/VR, eSports, and technologies to consume
something new.”
According to Yann
that capacity, and we’ll see
holographic video,
Begassat, business
will benefit from the that with 5G enabling richer
development director
technology.” - Niklas experiences,” he adds.
at Broadpeak, it is hard
“Video streaming
Björkén, Accedo
to predict which video
services will clearly take
6 EUROMEDIA
advantage of 5G, but are unlikely to look
very different to what we have today,”
suggests Simon Forrest, principal technology
analyst, Futuresource. “Certainly, UHD
could be unicast to devices, but research is
also underway into using 5G for broadcast
television services: examples include 5G Today
and the 5G XCast project, which are examining
the benefits of using 5G high power high tower
(HPHT) transmission alongside roll out of
the 5G mobile networks and the necessary
densification of cell infrastructure to deliver
high performance (mmWave) 5G services.”
“We expect AR applications to benefit from
5G, particularly industrial and enterprise,
where ‘see what I see’ and remote training
or monitoring can harness the advantages
of wearable technology. VR may continue
to suffer: even though 5G will deliver the
low-latency and bandwidth necessary to
improve immersion levels, this doesn’t
necessarily mean that VR headsets will
suddenly become fashionable and neither
does 5G solve the concerns over headset
weight nor the uneasiness wearers often feel
when using the devices for prolonged periods.
Digital advertising has much to gain from 5G.
Connected billboards could harness 5G to
populate screens with new advertisements and
churn the physical (screen) real-estate much
more quickly to generate higher revenues.
Beyond this, there’s opportunity for advanced
audio products that connect directly to 5G
for data services. Having ubiquitous high-
bandwidth connectivity enables ‘audible AR’
to develop, overlaying the physical world
with spoken information and description,” he
advises.