5G Broadcast (5GB), officially known as LTE-based 5G Terrestrial Broadcast, is a system for the distribution of

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

and other broadcast media content via terrestrial radio broadcast networks based on downlink-only

LTE LTE may refer to: Science and technology * LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a mobile telephony standard ** LTE Advanced, an enhancement ** LTE Advanced Pro, a further enhancement * Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers * Leukotrie ...

technology. 5G Broadcast focuses mainly on mobile use cases like smartphones and in-car radio. It does not require the use of a

SIM card A typical SIM card (mini-SIM with micro-SIM cutout)A SIM card or SIM (subscriber identity module) is an integrated circuit (IC) intended to securely store an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and its related key, which are u ...

or cellular subscription, but only a device like a smartphone capable of receiving 5G Broadcast signals, thus bypassing telecommunication and cellular operators entirely. A stated advantage has been the ability to reduce load off mobile networks during large live broadcasts, and not requiring an internet connection. In a broadcast mode, data can be sent to multiple receivers at once (point-to-multipoint) as opposed to point-to-point. The technology has been tested in numerous countries for a number of years, and has been tipped in Europe as the potential future for

digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV, DTT, or DTTB) is a technology for terrestrial television, in which television stations broadcast television content in a digital signal, digital format. Digital terrestrial television is a major technologica ...

, which currently are mainly based on the

DVB-T2 DVB-T2 is an abbreviation for "Digital Video Broadcasting – Second Generation Terrestrial"; it is the extension of the television standard DVB-T, issued by the consortium DVB, devised for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial telev ...

standard. Public broadcasters of France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland and Austria have signed a cooperation pact in 2023 and have stated the use of the

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

470–694 MHz frequency band to be used for 5G Broadcast. In September 2023 the specs of the standard was updated and published by the

3GPP The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is an umbrella term for a number of standards organizations which develop protocols for mobile telecommunications. Its best known work is the development and maintenance of: * GSM and related 2G and ...

organisation. It started being tested by some

low-power television station Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a Radio broadcasting#Station, broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower ...

s in the USA and also in Spain by UHD. In Germany, 5G Broadcast has been trialed and in May 2024 another pilot project is set to begin in the city of Halle. It is separate from the

ATSC 3.0 ATSC 3.0 is a major version of the ATSC standards for terrestrial television broadcasting created by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). The standards are designed to offer support for newer technologies, including High Effici ...

transmission standard which is also being rolled out. In France, a trial is operated by TDF since the Paris 2024 Olympic games.

Comparison with ATSC 3.0

In comparison with

, the "NextGenTV" IP-based broadcasting standard being introduced in the USA, 5G Broadcast has been criticised for lower bandwidth efficiency, and the lack of a future-proofing "bootstrap" signal to enable the introduction of new physical-level modulation profiles. However, 5G Broadcast was seen as having the advantage in most other aspects of performance.

References

{{reflist Digital television Mobile television 3GPP standards 5G (telecommunication) Mobile telecommunications