A ‘5G Broadcasting’ Demo Comes To D.C.
By Adam Jacobson
October 30, 2023
At 11am Eastern on Friday, October 13, the first offering for the general public to receive an over-the-air 5G broadcast signal on an SDR with downloadable software came to be.
Now, a demonstration of the pioneering technology is scheduled for Thursday afternoon (11/2) at a reception hosted by the law firm that’s home to veteran communications industry expert David Oxenford.
Wilkinson Barker Knauer’s M Street N.W. offices will play host to XGN Network, giving those Inside the Beltway an up-close look at what 5G broadcast has to offer.
XGN is described as “pioneering 5G broadcast technology that allows smartphones to receive over-the-air broadcast TV directly from broadcast stations.”
The premise would be revolutionary but perhaps meet the same level of resistance as bringing FM radio chip activation to smartphones — a failed effort championed by Emmis Communications founder and head Jeff Smulyan through his now-folded NextRadio business that even saw ex-FCC Chairman Ajit Pai implore Apple to bring FM chips to the iPhone head set.
The failure of FM in smartphones, in the minds of many, was linked to the rich revenue stream that streaming audio brings to wireless services providers. In their view, an app bringing live radio — albeit with digital ad insertion — is suffice. In an event of an emergency, when data capabilities of smartphones are squelched due to tower overload or signal loss, Radio has proven essential.
Now comes technology that could upend the way over-the-air television is viewed, thus potentially lowering the minutes and hours of streamed video — and, therefore, ads purchased programmatically on digital platforms. The public safety benefit, however, may be akin to the days when a battery-powered portable TV used during Hurricane Andrew helped saved lives across the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market.
And, the WKB-hosted event could further differentiate 5G broadcast from ATSC 3.0 and the heavily promoted NEXTGEN TV offering. ATSC 3.0 and 5G broadcasting are two very different transmission protocols. For example, ATSC 3.0 has the ability to provide multiple streams of programming in 4K with Dolby Sound. In contrast, 5G Broadcasting can do one solid 4k programming stream now, says “SuperFrank” Copsidas, the veteran low-power TV entrepreneur who founded XGN earlier this year. “The major advantage of 5G Broadcasting is on the receiver side, going directly to smartphones, tablets, and computers equipped with a 5G chip,” Copsidas said earlier this month.
The 5G broadcast technology is presently available in Boston. Here, a SDR software download gives SDR owners, most notably ham radio operators, the ability to receive the over-the-air 5G Broadcast signal of WWOO-LD 28 — provided they have the minimum system requirements as outlined by XGN and reside within the broadcast contour of the experimental station.
The D.C. test suggests additional markets are being primed for a 5G broadcast expansion effort.
Original article: https://rbr.com/a-5g-broadcasting-demo-comes-to-d-c/
