LPTV Industry Wants 5G Broadcast Because ATSC 3.0 Viability 'Uncertain'

The ATSC 3.0 transition “is an all-hands-on-deck initiative critical to the long-term vitality of broadcast TV, while the Petition is a significant step down the wrong path,” said NAB. But LPTV broadcaster Venture Technologies said the broadcast TV industry “can be likened to a terminally ill cancer patient. ... If the patient wishes to attempt an unproven but potentially life-saving treatment, they should be allowed to do so.”

Numerous other LPTV broadcasters and 5G broadcast equipment maker Qualcomm told the FCC that broadcasters need to be allowed to use the standard because it will let compatible mobile phones receive broadcasts. Pittsburgh LPTV broadcaster Ron Bruno said it's “in the public interest for us to use our spectrum to serve consumers by broadcasting to the devices that they use, which is cell phones.” U.S. adults now consume more video on 5G-compatible devices than they do on TVs, Bruno wrote.

Qualcomm argued that “because the 5G Broadcast standard is informed by mobile technologies, it makes its incorporation in mobile handsets, tablets, and other portable devices attainable.” Since 5G broadcast “reuses building blocks of existing cellular modem functionalities,” it “can be quick to market” and allows broadcasters to use their existing infrastructure, the company said. In fact, the LPTV Broadcasters Association said 5G broadcast-compatible phones are expected in Q3 this year.

The standard also has applications for emergency alerting and datacasting, and it could help provide a backup to GPS, said Vision Communications. ATSC 3.0 advocates have made similar arguments for that standard.

Broadcast TV’s audience skews older, while younger viewers prefer mobile devices, said Venture Technologies. “Broadcasters must develop an entirely new business model, or they will disappear, along with their aging audience.” The company asked the FCC to allow broadcasters to experiment not only with 5G broadcast, but any technology that doesn’t cause harmful interference.

Wallingford Broadcasting similarly said that to remain viable and relevant, TV broadcasters “must be open-minded and embrace new technologies that can reach viewers where they are and how they like to be reached.”

The LPTV industry needs to consider 5G broadcast because the ATSC 3.0 transition hasn’t delivered, said filings from many LPTV companies. “It is increasingly evident that ATSC 3.0 is not positioned to rescue the broadcast television industry,” said Venture Technologies. ATSC 3.0’s “viability remains uncertain given that ‘NextGen TV’ has been touted for more than a decade but has not yet shown itself to be generating viewer demand,” said ACV Station Group. NCTA, a longtime 3.0 opponent, said the HC2 petition “highlights the lack of broadcast industry consensus regarding the technologies that would best serve them going forward and further cautions against any mandatory transition to ATSC 3.0.”

On the other side, NAB characterized 5G broadcast as an untested distraction. The nation's largest broadcasters and the consumer electronics industry have already made major investments in ATSC 3.0, and it's “where the FCC’s attention should be laser-focused,” it said. “By contrast, NAB isn’t aware of any commercial receivers capable of receiving 5G Broadcast. The Petition makes a late-in-time proposal that is unproven and not in the service of viewers.”

NAB and low-power FM entity REC Networks said 5G broadcast advocates haven’t sufficiently shown that the technology won’t cause interference issues for other spectrum users. “There is currently not enough record and more experimental operations need to take place, especially those in more crowded atmospheres,” REC said. NAB agreed, saying “other systems also operate in spectrum adjacent to that authorized for LPTV stations and a technical analysis is necessary to determine whether those systems would be impacted by 5G Broadcast transmissions.” Proving that a new technology won’t cause interference is “table stakes for even being considered,” and the FCC should reject the petition for not providing it, NAB said.

HC2 filed an engineering report Monday on experimental testing with 5G broadcasting. Milachi Media offered its support, arguing that tests of the technology “showed no interference with existing broadcast or mobile networks, confirming that 5G Broadcast can coexist with current infrastructure.”

Several LPTV broadcasters that desire 5G broadcast authorization joined with NAB, however, in rejecting HC2’s proposal that the FCC exempt LPTV stations from their public service obligations and broadcast programming requirements to allow more spectrum for datacasting. “The petitioner’s 5G ‘Broadcast’ service does not appear to have any intention of actually broadcasting,” NAB said. “Surely, the essential ATSC 3.0 transition shouldn’t be distracted by a service that does not even purport to provide broadcast TV services.”

The LPTV Broadcasters Association said that LPTV licensees “are first and foremost broadcasters. The requirement to deliver a minimum of one programming stream must be mandatory as the transition to 5G Broadcast evolves.” The 5G Broadcast Collective, “an international non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and deploying 5G broadcasting worldwide,” said allowing LPTV stations to use all their spectrum for datacasting “would maximize spectrum efficiency” but acknowledged the importance of maintaining public access to broadcasting.