At MWC 2014 (Mobile World Congress), Barcelona, Ericsson today said Vodafone Germany has become the first European telecoms to conduct live tests with LTE Broadcast in association with Qualcomm and Samsung.
LTE Broadcast trial took place at Borussia Monchengladbach’s stadium on Saturday 22 February, when they played 1899 Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga.
Ericsson said LTE Broadcast does not put 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.
As part of Vodafone Germany’s network modernization program, LTE Broadcast could soon be available in further German stadia.
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 Premiere League Summary or exclusive video content from the stadium they’re in.”
