Telecom operators are making less investment in eMBMS or LTE Broadcast technology that has the potential to enhance revenue from video business.
American telecom giant Verizon Wireless was the only telecom network operator to launch commercial LTE Broadcast service in the last two years. Verizon had made investment in LTE Broadcast that is designed to enhance the delivery of video and multimedia services over a telecom’s LTE network – in 2015.
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Strategy Analytics, a leading research firm in the U.S., has recommended that top mobile operators must start making investment in eMBMS more aggressively to provide superior mobile video and data experiences to customers.
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“Though LTE Broadcast is the best tool to deliver the same content simultaneously to multiple users using the broadcast channels, therefore ideal for covering live events, for example, sports or concerts, live video alone is not enough to make a paid for service,” said Wei Shi, analyst of Wireless Media Strategies at Strategy Analytics.
According to Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) for 2015 to 2020, internet video will account for 79 percent of Internet traffic by 2020 against 63 percent in 2015. The world will reach three trillion Internet video minutes per month by 2020, which is five million years of video per month, or about one million video minutes every second.
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LTE Broadcast developments
In 2014, Globe Telecom, a mobile service provider in the Philippines, had showcased the latest LTE technologies including LTE eMBMS (evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service) technology.
Globe Telecom was aiming to launch eMBMS services in select pockets in 2015. There is no final update on its investment plans in LTE Broadcast.
“The LTE Broadcast solution enables transmission of live video contents to a large number of users without using huge amount of network resources. The technology enables a more efficient use of a mobile operator’s bandwidth resources, allowing customers to enjoy seamless video services in a wireless communication network,” said Emmanuel Estrada, head of Network Technologies Strategy at Globe Telecom.
Reliance Jio Infocomm, a pan-India 4G service provider, is keen to utilize LTE Broadcast technology to enhance its video revenue. Reliance Jio 4G network is aiming for 100 million customers before the end of March 2017.
In 2015, Huawei and Vodafone Spain carried out the trial for the LTE broadcast eMBMS technology for the first time in Spain, allowing the distribution of multimedia content to an unlimited number of users by reusing the existing 4G network.
The below video shows the potential of LTE Broadcast technology used by Vodafone Spain in association with Huawei, a leading telecom equipment maker in China.
Video surges
Video usage on smartphones and other devices is growing across the globe. HD and Ultra HD Internet video will make up 82 percent of Internet video traffic by 2020 against 53 percent in 2015, according to Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) for 2015 to 2020.
Data usage on AT&T network has grown by 150,000 percent since 2007 — due to the rise in video streaming apps, and mobile internet usage.
More than 95 percent of Verizon’s data traffic runs on its 4G LTE network. The fact that 88 percent of Americans own smartphones is an indicator that wireless majors need to tap video traffic and use the latest video technologies.
“Verizon wireless customers at the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump will be using Instagram, SnapChat, and Twitter to share photos and videos of the swearing in ceremony, run Facebook Live from their wireless devices,” said Nicola Palmer, chief network officer for Verizon Wireless.
Challenges
Accessing mobile TV services, particularly live events, over the mobile network will increase in future as competition drives larger data bundles to 4G users.
Telecom network operators must utilize LTE Broadcast to drive support from smartphone vendors such as Apple to meet growing mobile video demand while maintaining performance for all users. LTE eMBMS works by downloading its Live TV Apps and also by using an eMBMS capable device or smartphone.
Strategy Analytics says two main hurdles are holding momentum for LTE Broadcast back: the lack of a reliable monetization model and weak mobile device support.
Strategy Analytics tracked 26,000 models and found that more than 1000 are using eMBMS capable chipsets, though very few devices are shipped with the feature enabled.
According to another GSA report, 5,614 LTE user devices were announced by June 24, 2016. GSA says eMBMs technology will reach 2 billion people by 2020.
Apple iPhone models, which account for 15 percent of smartphone installed base, do not support eMBMS.
Benefits
Strategy Analytics says the cost saved from offloading the traffic data, largely generated by mobile video consumption, from unicast to multicast will justify operators’ limited investment to upgrade the network.
Packaging LTE Broadcast as part of operators’ service portfolios is an opportunity. There are other non-live video opportunities for the technology, for example, batch software updates, public information dissemination, and supplementing terrestrial broadcasting.
Strategy Analytics says the launching and expanding of LTE Broadcast Alliance in 2016 is a positive sign that the industry, led by a group of operators and technology companies, is addressing the device support issue.
“Leading mobile device makers have not rushed to equip a large number of their phones and tablets with the LTE Broadcast feature, the most obvious absence being Apple’s iPhones and iPads,” said Nitesh Patel, director, Wireless Media Strategies at Strategy Analytics.
LTE is growing
In September 2016, GSA, the Global mobile Suppliers Association, said that LTE is growing faster than any other mobile communications system technology. 19.5 percent of the global mobile base were connected to LTE systems by June 30, 2016.
LTE subscriptions reached 1.453 billion in Q2 2016 with 160.3 million net connections coming in Q2 2016.
More than 1 in 3 operators are investing in LTE-Advanced system deployments. Over 28 percent of LTE operators have commercially launched LTE-Advanced service.
Most of the telecom network operators globally are planning to reap benefits from their video business especially when voice business is under pressure. Telecom equipment makers such as Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei have plans ready for LTE Broadcast.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com