SWR to showcase live 5G Broadcast distribution of the Eurovision Song Contest in Stuttgart, powered by Rohde & Schwarz and Qualcomm

Stuttgart, Germany - The Eurovision Song Contest - a large scale, televised concert with fireworks, dancing and pop songs - continues to captivate audiences of nearly 200million viewers around the world. This year's ESC22, hosted in Torino, Italy, is a special one as it witnesses the latest cutting-edge multimedia distribution solution, 5G Broadcast, which brings the live concert to Germany.

The live event will be produced and distributed to selected mobile devices by Rai Radiotelevisione Italiana - the national public broadcaster of Italy - using the latest broadcast and multicast technology: 5G Broadcast from the heart of Stuttgart. SWR - a technology leading public service media organization - will make most of the live demonstration via an end-to-end 5G Broadcast-ready system, offering show attendees a totally new experience with an advanced live mobile experience.

A full end-to-end live 5G Broadcast/Multicast streaming demonstration will be set up under the umbrella of SWR's innovation project "5G Media2Go". Together with Rohde & Schwarz - a global leader in broadcast transmitter and media technologies, and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. - the driving force behind the development, launch and expansion of 5G, SWR will make this happen. Running throughout the show, the demonstration will showcase Broadcast/Multicast capabilities over 5G where the live encoded content produced by RAI in Torino, will be transmitted live in Stuttgart by SWR using a 5G Broadcast signal over-the-air to smartphone form-factor test device from Qualcomm Technologies.

Rohde & Schwarz's end to end 3GPP compliant 5G Broadcast solution is the selected choice for the European countries broadcasting ESC22 live to their audiences in Italy, Austria, Germany and France. It comprises of the 5G Broadcast enabled R&S TLU9 transmitter and the Broadcast Service and Control Center (BSCC2.0) acting as a broadcast/multicast core network.

The 5G Broadcast solution is built on the 3GPP Rel-16 feature-set, operating in a Receive-Only Mode (ROM), Free-To-Air (FTA) and without the need for a SIM card (SIM-free reception). The 5G Broadcast dedicated mode will be demonstrated with a standalone broadcast Medium Power Medium Tower (MPMT) infrastructure while operating within the UHF band.

"During this year's Eurovision Song Contest, we are offering a small taste of what is possible using 5G Broadcast technology and solutions that are available now," commented Manfred Reitmeier, vice president broadcasting and amplifier systems at Rohde & Schwarz. "We are excited about extending our collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies and bringing a new live content experience to consumers."

Lorenzo Casaccia, Vice President of Technical Standards, Qualcomm Europe, Inc., commented: "We are proud to have worked with the EBU, RAI and Rohde &Schwarz to bring a new viewing dimension to fans of Eurovision. Eurovision is not only about what is happening on the stage but what is happening in the greenroom, in the audience, in the locations submitting votes and is the ideal vehicle to showcase 5G Broadcast's capabilities. This exciting activation is another important step in the R&D development of 5G Broadcast."

Dr. Roland Beutler, project manager of the 5G Media2Go project, emphasizes that 5G Broadcast can help to get linear media services to smartphones and in-car infotainment systems while containing distribution costs of public service media organizations and at the same time allowing users to have access to these services free-to-air i.e., without consuming their mobile data.

5G Broadcast offers network operators and broadcasters opportunities to create exciting consumer experiences across a range of new and existing business areas - all while enabling high spectral efficiency and reduced costs.

Broadcast/Multicast over 5G is not restricted to linear and live content distribution. For network operators and media content providers it offers a completely new range of business models for delivering content or data to large numbers of consumers and without affecting the regular cellular 5G mobile network. Venue and automotive sectors are particularly suitable for new consumer applications while the high power, high tower free-to-air/no-SIM offers emergency services and national authorities more secure ways to deliver public messages during natural disasters or emergencies.

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