Telcos unite to create LTE Broadcast Alliance

Matt Stagg

Mobile telecom operators EE, Verizon, Telstra and KT have teamed up to create a global alliance to promote LTE Broadcast technology.

Introducing the LTE Broadcast Alliance at TV Connect this morning, EE’s principal analyst Matt Stagg told TV Connect attendees that LTE Broadcast would help extend the media potential of LTE.

Verizon’s director, product development, corporate technology, Parissa Pandkhou, said that her company had been working on LTE Broadcast since 2012. “our goal from this alliance is to develop new business models, educate the market about what the service can do and lead the technology,” she said.

Mike Wright from Telstra said that consumption of video on mobile was increasing, particularly for sport. He said that LTE Broadcast was a key technology, adding that the alliance sent a message to others in the industry that there is a need to line up to “accelerate the ecosystem” and bring about significant penetration of LTE Broadcast-enabled devices by next year.

In the US, Verizon has developed commercially deployed LTE-B service across its nationwide 4G LTE network.

In the UK, EE trialled LTE-B at the 2015 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, in partnership with the BBC, allowing HD broadcast of multiple camera angles and replays to mobile devices in the stadium.

In Australia, Telstra undertook the world’s first stadium broadcast using LTE-B in January 2014. Telstra demonstrated the technology again at the NRL Grand Final in October 2015, and has most recently showcased content pre-positioning with Ericsson at Mobile World Congress 2016.

In South Korea, KT became the first operator in the world to launch a commercial LTE-B service in January 2014. The KT service covers seven baseball stadiums and major subway lines of Seoul and Busan.