Vodafone Germany and Ericsson have completed a live trial of LTE video broadcast in Borussia Monchengladbach’s football stadium.
Vodafone said it is the Europe’s “first” live trial, which was completed in collaboration with Ericsson, Qualcomm and Samsung.
Thomas Norén, Head of Product Area Radio at Ericsson said: “This first test in Europe is an important milestone for the European mobile telecommunications sector. LTE Broadcast will soon be delivering unlimited TV or video content to people in device dense places such as stadiums, public viewing areas or shopping centres.”
LTE Broadcast – also known as evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS) – puts no additional load on the network, enabling smartphone users in device dense locations to watch TV channels in high-quality.
The service uses Single Frequency Network technology, like DVB-T, to distribute the signal to an unlimited number of recipients. The user only needs an LTE-enabled device with an LTE Broadcast app.
The operator said that the service would be available in further German stadiums as part of Vodafone Germany’s network modernisation programme.
Eric Kuisch, CTO Vodafone Germany said: “This technology enables multiple broadcast sessions to be viewed simultaneously, so our customers will be able to watch Sky’s Premier League Summary or exclusive video content from the stadium they’re in.”
Earlier this month, US operator Verizon did a similar test on its video service called multicast, which was used to broadcast the Super Bowl over its network.The trial was limited to a single room inside Verizon’s Power House, a temporary installation set up in Manhattan’s Bryant Park.