5G Broadcast: Initial findings from the ORS trial in Vienna

For several months, the ORS has been conducting a trial of the new 5G Broadcast transmission standard in Vienna. Michael Wagenhofer (CEO of ORS) presented the initial findings and conclusions at "EBU Forecast 2020". Summary: 5G Broadcast is the future of television, but there are still a few hurdles to overcome...

Tests shows that 5G Broadcast is future-proof

At the annual 'Forecast' seminar of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Michael Wagenhofer presented the key findings so far from the current 5G Broadcast trial in Vienna. The results show that 5G Broadcast is definitely a future-proof technology for consumers. One of the reasons for this is the Internet Protocol capability of the new standard and the associated compatibility with other OTT streaming services.

Lack of end devices as the biggest challenge

Although the 5G Broadcast tests in Vienna are promising, both the industry and consumers are facing a major challenge. The product maturity of 5G Broadcast is not yet satisfactory, as there is still a shortage of 5G Broadcast-compatible end devices.

"The lack of suitable end devices among consumers is still the biggest problem for the introduction of 5G Broadcast," says Michael Wagenhofer about the current situation. For this new ecosystem to develop, this and other issues would have to be resolved by the industry as well as broadcasting and mobile network operators by 2025.

ORS supports hardware development with open source platform

In order to further the development of the 5G Broadcast ecosystem and to be able to investigate the feasibility and maturity of possible applications, ORS will soon launch its own open source demo platform for 5G Broadcast applications. Under the project name OBECA (Open Broadcast Edge Cache Appliance), a modular open source platform is to be created that will allow developers around the world to work together with the ORS on hybrid OTT applications with 5G Broadcast.

The platform will be used as a demo platform in the second phase of the trial in Vienna. The launch of OBECA is planned for early next year.

More info about 5G Broadcast