Sixteen operators spanning 13 countries are currently trialing LTE Multicast, according to a new report from the Global Mobile Suppliers Association.
Part of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 's LTE Release 9 specs for eMBMS (evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services), LTE Multicast allows wireless operators to broadcast live video over their LTE networks to multiple users simultaneously. The alternative -- using unicast streams -- takes up significantly more capacity and can easily overload the network when multiple users are watching on the same cell site. Sporting events such as the Super Bowl are a prime example of when LTE Multicast could become essential. (See eMBMS: Revolutionary Technology or Alphabet Soup?)
This is the first time the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) has looked at the market for LTE Multicast, or LTE Broadcast, as it is still a relatively new technology -- albeit one that's been talked about for a long time. South Korea's KT Corp. launched the first commercial service in January of this year and remains the only operator with an actual commercial service. (See Nearly 500 Operators Make the 4G Pledge.)
Now, however, it's joined by operators in Australia, China, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, UAE, UK and the US, all of which are at least trialing the technology currently.
More widespread support for the standard will be crucial for it to take off, but don't expect trials to move to deployments at a rapid clip. Despite the many benefits, some operators feel that use cases are limited -- primarily in-stadium broadcasts of supplementary content -- and a business case still needs to be worked out amongst the many participants in the value chain, including operators, broadcasters, venue owners and vendors.
jabailo, User Rank: Light Sabre 8/27/2014 | 1:38:18 PM
Internet TV Well, I guess you have to start asking questions like at what point does the multicast branch. Are they going to push the stream to each and every LTE router in case someone wants to connect to it?
Maybe they can pair up with something like the DirecTV satellite network, and pick up the feed from there, locally at the LTE antenna station (instead of sending it through the trunk lines) and then feed it to mobile devices.
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