EBU strategy for broadcast telecommunications convergence Franc Kozamernik European

EBU strategy for broadcast/telecommunications convergence Franc Kozamernik European Broadcasting Union

Agenda l EBU in the nutshell l Broadcast vs. telecom l Possible synergies of broadcasting, telecommunications and internet l Possible scenarios l Conclusions

European Broadcasting Union - EBU l The EBU is the largest professional association of national broadcasters in the world l Founded in 1950. Merged with OIRT in 1993. l 69 active members in Europe, North Africa and Middle East and further 45 associate members l Eurovision and Euroradio satellite/terrestrial networks l Programming, legal and technical activities

Broadcasting vs. Telecoms l Both broadcasting and telecommunications are important industries and both are playing their respective role in our societies. l Both are mature industries and both have been highly successful, since several decades, in terms of building up n a large consumer base, n huge turnouts, n large numbers of radio/TV receivers and telecom terminals used, n extensive infrastructures n large numbers of workers

Broadcasting vs. Telecoms l In the past, they have been evolving separately in different directions as two entirely different entities. l Since last two decades, both industries made significant progress in adopting digital technologies. l More recently, they embarked into packet-based technologies and the development of multimedia services and applications with the following common features: n increased mobility, n geographical and time independence, n individualisation and personalisation, n Interactive and on-demand services, n better technical quality and increased security

Broadcasting vs. Telecoms l It is important to understand the differences between these separate industries n Telecoms is mainly “one-to-one” n Broadcasting is mainly “one-to-many” - All users tuned to a given channel receive the same content l From the all-important perspective of users: n Both models will continue to be needed for different types of services and applications n Both models have advantages and disadvantages

Broadcasting vs. Telecoms l Economists designate free-to-air broadcasting as a “public good” because the marginal cost of extra viewers or listeners is zero l Telecoms operators get more revenue as the use of their networks increases l Broadcasters are mainly interested in content n Delivery technologies are incidental to them l Telecoms operators are mainly interested in delivery systems n Content is incidental, but will become more important as the impetus for new services

Multimedia convergence at different levels Broadcaster Service provision Broadcast Network Internet / Telecom Provider Internet Core transport Node Headend HFC LMDS Core Network IP, ATM, SDH, WDM Access User Terminal POTS ISDN x. DSL fibre GSM GPRS UMTS

Broadcasters l Sound radio and television are the most important mass media and play a major and irreplaceable part in the lives of the people l Radio is simple, ubiquitous, free service, non-expensive receivers, mobile and portable, user-friendly, informative and trusted medium l Television is more sophisticated, used in the home/family, provides entertainment, information and education l Both radio and TV are in the process of radical changes and move towards digitisation and multimedia

Content l The choice of TV services available to the average consumer has increased dramatically, but expenditure on new programmes has not kept pace with this expansion l Traditional broadcast services (i. e. one-to-many & one-way) will continue to be important because mass audiences are required to cover the costs of high quality content production l Broadcasters will also embrace the opportunities offered by multimedia services and applications, including “interactive” and “on-demand” services l Users will transform themselves from passive consumers to active creators able to choose the content and presentation to their liking

Broadcast Delivery l Broadcasters (content providers) will probably become agnostic about delivery systems l The existing analogue terrestrial transmissions will remain attractive because they are almost universally available l Radio broadcasters can choose from: n AM n FM n DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) n Internet & its successors

TV Delivery Systems l TV broadcasters will choose from: n analogue terrestrial n analogue satellite n digital satellite (DVB-S) n digital terrestrial (DVB-T) n digital cable (DVB-C) n digital MMDS (DVB-MC & DVB-MS) n Internet and its successors n UMTS or GPRS n broadband radio services (BRAN, MBS)

Digital Audio Broadcasting - DAB l Eureka 147 DAB system, first shown publicly in 1988 in Geneva Recommended by ITU-R as a a worldwide standard l Terrestrial system using OFDM modulation, very robust, 1. 5 Mbs channel, audio and data (multimedia) services l 300 million people in 25 countries worldwide are within DAB reach l Coverage in the UK is 79% of the population l 509 different DAB services are available – 225 PSB, 284 CS l 25 manufacturers are making 16 different types of consumer products – car, home, portable radios and PC cards l Prices to fall by 50% or more (to £ 99) by end of 2001!

Digital Video Broadcasting - DVB l Family of DVB standards based on ISO MPEG-2 – Satellite, Cable, Terrestrial and MMDS l De facto worldwide standard, flexible, robust, different bit rates and channels l Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) paves the way to multimedia l 7 million BSky. B and 1 million On. Digital set-top-boxes in the UK l In UK, STB are given away for free – different business model than for DAB l Terrestrial DVB is bogged down by the spectrum scarcity in Europe

EBU Statement on “DAB versus DVB-T” l DAB is to serve radio communities l DVB-T is to serve television communities l Similar technologies (OFDM) l Different emphasis but complementary systems l Both are needed and both should be deployed l DVB-T cannot replace DAB, even not in a longer term l DVB-T is able to carry radio services but this may represent only a minority market l Both systems will be used for mobile Multimedia in future

Digital radio Mondiale - DRM l DRM is being developed to replace analogue LW, MF and SW radio below 30 MHz l Designed as a flexible system able to overcome adverse propagation conditions – deep and long fades, echoes and multipath l A variety of audio and channel coding options and modulation schemes to copy with different channel bandwidth requirements

Broadcasting to Mobile and Portable terminals

UMTS Stationary Pedestrian Mobile 2 Mb/s 384 kb/s 144 kb/s Bit rate (kb/s)

UMTS and other radio technologies PSTN Stationary ISDN x. DSL UMTS DVB cable DVB satellite Pedestrian GPRS Mobile GSM DAB Bit rate (kb/s) DVB terrestrial

Analogue-to-digital transition l Digital technology must be significantly “better” in any respect than analogue radio for all players, especially for consumers l An agreed introduction strategy and concerted/synchronous efforts of all major players at a national level n public service and commercial broadcasters n new content providers n receiver/transmitter/IC manufacturers n network operators n spectrum regulators n retailers n users: customer awareness l Public and governmental support is absolutely needed

A national matter l Each and every country in Europe has very specific economic, cultural and media regulation situation l Broadcasting (and electronic media) is a matter of national states or even regions (e. g. Germany) l Any implementation plan and analogue switch-off strategy should take into account national broadcasting diversities and national priorities l International organisations and associations such as EBU are valuable but cannot replace national efforts and decisions. They should however provide common technology standards, implementation guidelines, lobbying, promotion and advice

Governmental decision l Digital may take several years to reach the level of the present analogue broadcasting l Transition to digital may be much slower than expected unless there is a concerted effort at a a national level l Broadcasting will ultimately become digital, but at what stage the analogue stations may be withdrawn? l As the transition is a costly exercise, small and commercial stations may remain on analogue for very long l A governmental announcement of the analogue withdrawal deadline at an early stage would have a positive effect

Analogue Switch-Off l A timely announcement of Analogue Switch-Off (ASO) by the national government will have the following advantages: l A CLEAR SIGNAL TO ALL PLAYERS about the intentions of the government and will accelerate A-D transition l NETWORK PROVIDERS - will reduce transmission cost which is now doubled due to simulcasting in analogue and digital. More money will be available for the completion of terrestrial networks l ADMINISTRATIONS/REGULATORS - will be able to use parts of the analogue spectrum soon after ASO l CUSTOMERS - will be encouraged to purchase digital STBs as of now l MANUFACTURERS - will sell more digital products and the prices would go gradually down, diversity of receivers will increase

Interactive Multimedia Broadcasting !LEVEL 1: LOCAL INTERACTIVITY - storage in the terminal (e. g. TV Anytime) !LEVEL 2: ONE-WAY RETURN CHANNEL !LEVEL 3: TWO-WAY INTERACTIVE CHANNEL *

LEVEL 1 Interactive Broadcasting l No return link needed l Internal storage device in the user terminal to allow: n linear programmes to be consumed in a non-linear manner (e. g. a news bulletin) n users to “order” a programme to be recorded by a single click during a trailer n intelligent agents to record programmes that they “think” you might want to listen to n sophisticated interactive multimedia information services, continuously up-dated and available instantly to consumers n automatic indexing of recorded programmes l Examples: TV Anytime Project, Ti. Vo

LEVEL 2 Interactive Broadcasting l Interactive Broadcasts can be further enhanced by the use of a narrow-band return channel (e. g. GSM, GPRS, UMTS, Internet) l DAB or DVB-T can be used as forward transport media in connection with return channel l Return channel connects the end user with the content originator: n n n content provider service provider multiplex provider l Supplementary individually addressed traffic l Possibility for secure encryption or charging mechanisms

LEVEL 3 Interactive Broadcasting l LEVEL 3 allows for PERSONAL BROADCASTING l DAB or DVB-T used as transport medium for broadcast and individually addressed traffic in connection with an interactive channel (e. g. PSTN, GSM, GPRS, UMTS, Internet) l Highly assymetric services l Requires roaming/handover network functionalities l Requires secure encryption and charging mechanisms l A World. DAB project “DAB/Mobile” using SIM and Java card for transactions will start in the autumn l Joint UMTS Forum / DVB Forum group (see TM 2466)

Scenario 1: Integration at the terminal level DTV Broadcaster(s) Mux Dx. B DVB-T TX Mobile terminal Data carrousel UMTS/UTRA ISP Mobile Operator Base Station DVB or UMTS

Scenario 2: IP services on co-ordinated UMTS and DVB networks DTV Broadcaster Mux Dx. B DVB-T TX Mobile terminal Data carrousel/ multicasting UMTS/UTRA ISP Mobile Operator Base Station DVB or UMTS

Scenario 3: UMTS as an interaction channel DTV Broadcaster Mux Dx. B DVB-T TX Data carrousel/ multicasting Mobile terminal ITV RC UMTS/UTRA ISP Mobile Operator Base Station DVB or UMTS

Scenario 4: Delivery of DVB TV over UMTS Broadcaster UMTS terminal DTV B-UMTS BS UMTS/UTRA ISP Mobile Operator TV on demand Base Station

Scenario 5: UMTS network with an integrated DVB-T downlink Mobile terminal DVB-T TX Data carrousel/ multicasting ISP Mobile Operator DVB-T UMTS/UTRA Base Station

Broadcast Multimedia Services l News and sport l EPG l Weather l Near video-on-demand l Special events l Games l Polling and voting l Oriented advertisment l ’Tell me more’ l Home shopping l Infoseek l Electronic banking l Travel information l Mobile office l Traffic information l Education l Navigation l Interactive training l Internet access l Handicap support

IP over broadcast channels l DAB and DVB broadcast channels have relatively large bandwidth but for regulatory reasons only a small portion (typically, less than 20%) can be used for data services such as IP multimedia l Access to web pages via broadcast channels is fast and reliable l Broadcasters may adopt a concept of a “Walled garden”: n Pre-selection of Web pages limits the usefulness of this service compared with full Internet access. Broadcaster decides on a selection of “best” sites and transmits the same sites to all customers n Customers can browse locally between the sites chosen by the broadcaster. l Interaction channel is provided by a telecommunication channel

Push Technology l Push technology is similar to broadcasting - “one to many” l Multimedia files are pushed from a broadcaster as e-mails to the subscriber computers (typically several hundreds only) n different from broadcasting is that users can only receive their “narrowcast” information according to their individual “user profile” l “Push” services delivered over the Internet allow users to specify their interests: n news items about specific subjects, share prices for a particular company, etc. l The user’s computer periodically checks if any relevant new information is available, and downloads it for display l The number of subscribers could increase if “dial-up” connections are replaced by “fast Internet” broadcast channels

Webcasting l Broadcasting over the internet - complementary to conventional over-air broadcasting n Continuous live streaming n On demand downloading l Global access, full interactivity, personal filters, niche themes, audience monitoring l Poor technical quality, but HOW POOR ? n Compression schemes n Network bandwidth, packet loss, jitter

Possible areas of common interest l Common receiver/terminal (human-machine interface) l Portable/personal terminal (possibly integrated with a PDA) l Common API protocols, interfaces and metadata l Common networks and roaming strategies l Common billing/security/transactional models l Common IP technology for multimedia

Conclusion l There are opportunities for broadcast and telecommunications to work together l Synergy of the two platforms can strengthen both and enable new services and applications to develop l UMTS should preferably be used for individual communication l Broadcast channels are suited for high bitrate media distribution to large audiences l Several scenarios for practical cooperation are possible l Joint development and market activities are necessary to futher the business opportunities.

Conclusion l In future broadcasters will probably become agnostic about delivery systems - they will use any broadcast or non-broadcast channel if it offers clear advantages for their audiences l Broadcasters will use a variety of receiver terminals to reach their audiences l Broadcasters will focus on n the provision of rich content, n increase diversity of programme choice n develop attractive data/multimedia applications n interactive broadcasting services