[opendtv] Re: IEEE Ericsson article on use of LTE for TV

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:17:15 -0500

Craig Birkmaier wrote:

> I've never said that broadcasters can do this. But they can offer
> service that compete with this. All you need to do is "subscribe"
> your device to a specific broadcast service such as a continuously
> updated news, weather or sports app.

> Apple and oranges Bert. There is plenty of room for both, and the
> broadcast model is clearly more efficient when a large number of
> people want to watch a live event. And, as we discussed recently,
> there are still millions of people who watch pre-produced TV content
> when it is broadcast - it is just difficult to do this today on a
> mobile device since these devices do not support the ATSC standards.

Oh, finally we've reached what I hope is the crux of the matter. So we agree 
that in your model, where the broadcaster's LTE network only broadcasts, they 
would still need to rely on a totally separate, independent 2-way network, to 
support all the interactive sessions that people want, even for TV viewing. And 
they STILL have to go to the expense of deploying a really big number of access 
points (even if the stick itself can be shared with cellcos). Does it make any 
sense to require two separate wireless networks for this?

Why not instead send all TV over the same 2-way spectrum, and decide, on a case 
by case basis, whether the TV content will be sent using the LTE 
multicast/broadcast mode, or as IP live multicasts only to those cells that 
have group membership, or whether the content should be sent as interactive VOD 
unicast? And if the telcos ALREADY have wireless nets that can do this, why not 
just give them more room for growth?

Do the benefits of true broadcast that you allude to still hold with this dense 
mesh of towers? Those 804 towers required to serve a medium sized metro market 
certainly don't all need to be transmitting exactly the same thing? The 
backhaul network can CERTAINLY be smart enough to use the access points more 
efficiently than that. So EVEN IF the Superbowl is transmitted simultaneously 
through all 804 towers, do all of the other TV shows available that night need 
to be? Of course not.

THIS is why, way back at the start of these related threads, I suggested that 
we are talking about a change in TV transmission from broadcast to unicast. 
*And* that to cover the (recurring) costs, OTA TV would become just another 
MVPD. *And*:

1. The role of broadcasters becomes nonexistent, if all of wireless TV is 
absorbed into existing wireless telco nets. (The congloms simply deal with the 
cellcos.)

2. If broadcasters build their own 2-way net, then you need to wonder whether 
the telcos' cell phones will tune to those broadcaster freqs. You go on and on 
about iPhones changing everything, but can your AT&T iPhone use the Verizon 
cell network? Who kept iPhones away from Verizon nets for so long? Was it 
really Apple? Hah! The cellcos do retain control.

Bert

 
 
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