Vodafone Germany is the first European carrier to conduct live tests with LTE Broadcast in collaboration with communications technology and services provider Ericsson, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and Samsung. The trial took place at Borussia Mönchengladbach's stadium on Saturday 22 February, when they played 1899 Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga.
LTE Broadcast - also known as evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS) - puts no 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 modernisation programme, LTE Broadcast could soon be available in further German stadia.
"There is growing demand for high quality video content on mobile devices and LTE Broadcast gives our customers a brand new mobile media experience," said Eric Kuisch, CTO Vodafone Germany. "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."
"This first test in Europe is an important milestone for the European mobile telecommunications sector. LTE Broadcast will soon be delivering unlimited TV or video content to people in device dense places such as stadiums, public viewing areas or shopping centers. I enjoy watching a good match at the stadium and it's going to be an even more exciting experience when I can watch the replay of the scene that lead to a penalty or goal or check up on the progress of the toughest competing teams in the league while my team's playing," said Thomas Norén, Head of Product Area Radio.
About Vodafone
Vodafone is one of the world's largest mobile communications companies by revenue with approximately 419 million customers in its controlled and jointly controlled markets as of 31 December 2013. Vodafone has equity interests in telecommunications operations in nearly 30 countries and around 50 partner networks worldwide. For more information, please visit: www.vodafone.com