Deutsche Funkturm supports 5G Media2Go

Stuttgart, 1 October 2020

The next generation of mobile telecommunication technologies 5G comes with a promise of various new applications. This also applies to the media and entertainment sector for the production of new forms of content and for its distribution. There seems to be an opportunity to target in particular smartphones, tablets and vehicles with both linear TV and radio programmes and nonlinear offers such as media libraries or podcasts. Future autonomous cars are considered a new very important use case for media consumption.

Broadcast, automotive and telecommunication industry have a common interest to offer users access to attractive media content and services while in a car or public transport. The combination of linear and nonlinear content on the integrated infotainment system of contemporary cars constitutes an important step into this direction. The location or the route of the vehicle taking into consideration the expected duration of travel could be used in the future to generate recommendations thereby offering additional value for mobile media consumption.

Against this background, a consortium consisting of DFMG Deutsche Funkturm GmbH, KATHREIN Broadcast GmbH, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG, Südwestrundfunk, Technische Universität Braunschweig – Institut für Nachrichtentechnik and Telekom Deutschland GmbH has signed a cooperation contract on 14. September 2020 to carry out a two-year project. It is launched on 1. October 2020.

The objectives of the project are:
• Verification of the capability of 5G Broadcast to provide linear media services for mobile consumption in vehicles.
• Combination of two high-power-high-tower transmitters located at the broadcast network sites in Stuttgart and Heilbronn and low-power-low-tower transmitters at mobile network sites in terms of a single frequency network to distribute linear TV programmes using 5G Broadcast. UHF TV channel 40 will be used.
• Integration of linear and nonlinear broadcast content and services in the infotainment system of a car. This requires adaption of relevant interfaces and the development of a corresponding app.
• Realization of a nonlinear media service based on geo-referenced recommendations („Travelguide“).
• Execution of mobile measurement campaigns in order to investigate availability of services with regards to coverage and quality of service.