Remote live broadcast/streaming and media video production is seen as a potential early use case for network slicing. 5G and network slicing will radically alter the world of broadcasting: by changing how broadcasters of all sizes transmit live content from remote locations, while also guaranteeing high-speed uplink, smaller crews and the possibility to cover more for less. To seize this new use case opportunity, communication service providers (CSPs) need to immediately make commercial and technical plans to monetize new 5G services for enterprises and consumers.
The 5G development of cellular technology enables remote live broadcasting over the mobile network at a high-quality standard and reduced production cost. This is because smaller on-site teams are needed (e.g., you don’t need to have an OB-Van with a local production team on site) which significantly decreases the cost of production and also allows content producers to cover more content for less. The market is now becoming ready. In fact, to some degree this market has already started, with the companies like LiveU who offer broadcast solutions globally over cellular using bonded 4G in the uplink. The prime focus of existing solutions is on news gathering, where the usage of cellular technology enables for flexibility and simplicity. 5G and network slicing will empower these solutions further. In May 2022, Ericsson, LiveU and tier 1 Italian broadcaster RAI conducted successful 5G network slicing trials in Aachen, Germany at 60 Mbps uplink. Major CSPs like Deutsche Telekom DT and British Telekom have been conducting slicing trials for the past one to two years.
On the content producer side, the market is also expanding, with a growing number of tier 2 and 3 producers covering long-tail events and sports. We are also seeing the increased usage of web-based video channels by newspapers, enterprises, influencers and vloggers.
We believe that 5G standalone (SA) with slicing will have superior cost and performance qualities verses other alternatives such as satellite, bundled 4G or 5G non standalone. This is because 5G standalone offers speed, flexibility and guaranteed performance at an attractive cost.
Fig 1: 5G slices provides camera production links and removes the need for production contribution links
SA, the base on which network slicing is built, will enable content producers and broadcasters the right performance end-to-end and is less costly and easier to set up than today’s solutions that rely on OB-Vans and satellite connections. This gives CSPs’ the opportunity to offer a performance guarantee even for densely populated areas, which is attractive to both broadcasters and other stakeholders in the value chain.
Though generally centred around guaranteed uplink speed and reliability, the proposition for slicing is nuanced across broadcaster sub-segments. We believe that slicing has the biggest potential for the news, smaller sports and other events as well as tier 3 broadcasters like vloggers. The prime reasons are that slicing offers:
The cloud live broadcast value chain consists of several segments that all can benefit from network slicing:
Today this market doesn’t really exist for CSPs; other than fixed fiber to stadiums. This market is dominated by many smaller companies providing broadcast solutions and managed services to broadcasters where satellite is used for the uplink to the production studio.
Going forward we see the opportunity for offerings in two dimensions, either as connectivity centric or broadcast /content producer solutions. This can be broken down into four possibilities:
The choice of model depends on a CSP’s strategy, size and position in the market. A major, perhaps global, CSP with many subscribers, existing broadcast position and a well-known brand will have a better position to create partnerships and offer bespoke solutions to tier 1 broadcasters while tier 2 or 3 CSPs may focus more on connectivity centric solutions like slice-on-a-SIM and reservation services.
Looking at live broadcast capture value chain, some of the key players to partner with are the broadcast content capture players like tier 1, 2, 3 broadcasters who bring consistent business that increases the CSPs credibility, the systems integrators/managed service providers that can offer a wide base of customers to the CSP and the encoder/camera providers, who can create an integrated connectivity solution for those broadcasters who want a lightweight solution for video capture, audio & signalling.
The first steps to commercialization for the CSP are:
In any case we believe most CSPs can begin by offering a simple SIM solution before deciding which area to focus on in the ecosystem.
Remote live broadcast and production is predicted to be one of many use cases to come on 5G and one of the first use cases to be explored and several leading CSP are in trials today. Our estimations also indicate that this use case is a positive business case. This area allows CSP to start in a smaller scale with some broadcasters to gain experience with the advantage that much of the business models are familiar for CSPs and the initial investments and risks are limited.
For more info and details on all the topics in this blog post and more, please read our newly published Remote live broadcast and production report, part of the Network slicing early commercial use cases series.
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