DIGITAL MIGRATION:

EUROPEAN

PERSPECTIVE

MARCELLO LOMBARDO (LOMBARDO@EBU.CH)

11 MAY 2016

CONTENT

1. ABOUT THE EBU

2. KEY FACTS ON DTT

3. WIRELESS DELIVERY OF MEDIA

4. WRC-15 OUTCOME AND STATUS OF DIGITAL SWITCHOVER

5. CONCLUSIONS

1. EUROPEAN BROADCASTING UNION

THE WORLD'S LEADING ALLIANCE OF PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA

Inform

Educate

Entertain

1. EBU – CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR SPECTRUM

• Activities in spectrum allocation, usage and protection

• Frequency planning for DTT (ITU-R GE06 planning) and digital radio with

DAB

• Protection of broadcasting from interference

• Analysis of new distribution platforms

visit tech.ebu.ch/spectrum for more information

2. DTT IN EUROPE

118 million

households rely on

DTT

3 hours of watching

per day

250

200

150

100

50

0

Min

ute

s p

er

day

Linear TV

Non Linear

TV

80% growth in 5 years

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

2008 2013 Public Service

Media

Commercial

2. DTT INNOVATION

Latest transmission

standard

Upcoming picture

quality standard

Latest compression

technology Broadcast/broadband

convergence

DTT can also be received on all

your screens

2. DTT INNOVATION

3. WIRELESS DELIVERY OF MEDIA

A PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING PERSPECTIVE

Service integrity

QoS defined by the

broadcasters

Emergency situations

Independence of the size

of audience

Ease of use

Low barriers

for access

Free-to-air No

gatekeeping

Prominence

Reach and

availability

EBU Fact Sheet PSM Requirements in Distribution

3. LTE COULD MEET THE BROADCASTERS’ REQUIREMENTS BUT …

• LTE real-world performance differs from that quoted in theoretical studies

• LTE eMBMS spectral efficiency depends on the inter-site distance, and is often not sufficient for

media distribution.

Real LTE networks spectral efficiency varies from as low as 0.1 bit/s/Hz to more than 3 bit/s/Hz

• The EBU work continues on

• LTE eMBMS coverage assessment methodology (for simulation purposes)

• The use cases that are relevant for PSM and could realistically be served by LTE

• Establishing a QoS criterion for the distribution of TV over LTE, including eMBMS

• Contribution to the relevant standardisation work [ITU, 3GPP]

• Platform for cooperation between the broadcast and the mobile industries

EBU Technical Report 026: https://tech.ebu.ch/publications/tr026

EBU Technical Report 027: https://tech.ebu.ch/publications/tr027

3. WIRELESS DELIVERY OF MEDIA

A PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING PERSPECTIVE

Service integrity

QoS defined by the

broadcasters

Emergency situations

Independence of the size

of audience

Ease of use

Low barriers

for access

Free-to-air No

gatekeeping

Prominence

Reach and

availability

Service integrity

QoS defined by the

broadcasters

Emergency situations

Independence of the size

of audience

Ease of use

Low barriers

for access

Free-to-air No

gatekeeping

Prominence

Reach and

availability

Wireless

broadband is

currently not a

real alternative to

DTT but a

complement

4. WRC-15 OUTCOME AND STATUS OF DIGITAL SWITCHOVER

• No Change in the 470-694 MHz band

• Revision of the whole UHF band at WRC-23

4. WRC-15 OUTCOME AND STATUS OF DIGITAL SWITCHOVER

The ITU-D keeps track of status of the transition to digital television broadcasting. http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Spectrum-Broadcasting/Pages/DSO/default.aspx

• In Region 1, most European

countries have successfully

completed DSO

• In many other countries the

DSO process is still ongoing

4. WRC-15 OUTCOME AND STATUS OF DIGITAL SWITCHOVER - AFRICA

Four main criteria for DSO success in Africa:

1) Funding (for network and Set Top Boxes)

2) Local Content

3) Enhanced Quality (HD, UHD)

4) Spectrum Stability

Country ATT Channels DTT Channels (SD) FTA

Algeria 2 6 5

Ghana 15 120 38

Kenya 44 206 77

Senegal 6 38

Information provided by the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB)

5. CONCLUSIONS

• DTT is the reference platform for delivery of TV services in Europe

• Wireless broadband is currently not a real alternative to DTT but a complement

• WRC-15 provided spectrum stability for DTT, it is an opportunity not to be wasted

• The EBU can share knowledge to facilitate the DSO process

• Spectrum web page

• Publications

• Events