ASIA-PACIFIC BROADCASTING

“Stifling broadcasting is not the way to achieve the Digital Agenda,” said Deltenre, who pointed out that collaboration, and not confrontation, should be the course of action in resolving the spectrum allocation issues between broadcasters and telcos.

“We need bold and brave initiatives. We need to see the reality — not the wish list. This will make it possible to achieve the Digital Agenda faster. We need both broadcasting and broadband, and they need to devise efficient and innovative ways to work together,” she added.

According to the Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update 2010-2015, global mobile data traffic grew 2.6-fold last year — nearly tripling for the third year in a row. Last year’s mobile data traffic was said to be three times the size of the entire global Internet in 2000, and that global mobile data traffic in 2010 (237 petabytes per month) was more than three times the total global Inter­net traffic in 2000 (75 petabytes per month).
The Cisco index also forecast that mobile video traffic would exceed 50% for the first time in 2011. Mobile video traffic was 49.8% of total mobile data traffic at the end of 2010, and will account for 52.8% of traffic by the end of this year.

By 2015, the Cisco Index forecast that global mobile data traffic will increase 26-fold between 2010 and 2015. Mobile data traffic will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 92% from 2010 to 2015, reaching 6.3 exabytes per month by 2015.

Thus, the continuous rise in demand for mobile data is putting pressure on broadcasters who naturally have to defend their traditional spectrum allocations. And with the advent of multi-screen platforms, broadcasters would need spectrum for these upcoming service offerings.

EBU’s Deltenre said all predictions indicate that the public will demand more and more video content from the Web. “They will want more programmes, more choices, and more quality. Look at the success of ‘catch-up’ TV services,” she pointed out.

In the future, part of the spectrum used for analogue-TV broadcasting in Europe, will be used for wireless broadband — the ‘800MHz’ band. EBU said the discussion in Europe today is whether even more of the broadcast bands in future should be given to wireless broadband services.

But even if broadband took over all the broadcast bands, in a few years there would still be insufficient spectrum to meet demands, said EBU.

“Using wireless broadband alone is not a solution to the media needs of the public,” said Deltenre. “We could follow our Japanese and Korean colleagues and create nations with fibre-optics or hybrid cable/fibre systems into every home. Let’s face it — they had a lot more foresight than we had in Europe, and we have to live with that.”

Thus, the only way to meet the European public’s media needs is to use broadcasting and wireless broadband, Deltenre reiterated. “We need a partnership of broadcasting and wireless broadband. Each must be used, where it best meets the needs of the public.”

In January next year, the EBU, along with other international broadcasting unions, would be participating in the ITU’s 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12), where one of the main agendas would be discussions on how best to allo­cate radio frequency spectrum for various needs.

But as far as EBU is concerned, the key is more collaboration between the broadcast and telecommunications industries.

“Broadcasting used for delivering the ever-higher-quality content to large audiences as [demanded by] the public. Broadband used as a partner when direct interactive services are needed for fewer users. I am not here to tell you what system this would be technically — this is a job for the engineers,” Deltenre maintained. “But simply to say that it is the only realistic way ahead.”

 

 

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