While Covid-19
may have delayed the pace of 5G implementations in some countries, optimism over
the new wireless technology has not been dampened, with 92% of broadcasters
expected to adopt 5G within the next two years.
The
findings – conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Nevion – also found that 39%
of respondents expect their organisations to be 5G-ready within a year, while a
further 53% believe they will be able to do so within the following year.
Although the pandemic has impacted the top-line revenues of
media operators, broadcasters are not shelving their plans to explore 5G’s
potential use cases. Almost two-thirds of the respondents would consider
adopting 5G for remote production, and 20% of them think that portable 5G would
provide the most value.
“As broadcasters contemplate using 5G in production, they
must consider a number of issues, such as getting dedicated bandwidth, as well
as how to handle timing and security.
“Investigations are currently under way in each of these
areas with the 5G-VIRTUOSA project helping to uncover the potential of 5G
technology in live production,” commented Andy Rayner, chief technologist,
Nevion.
Furthermore, 61% of respondents would consider using it for distribution
as a potential replacement for DTT, satellite or cable, while 33% of them would
consider using 5G technologies for OTT services.
Broadcasters expect to see improvement in viewer experience
such as lower buffering on all devices with the advent of 5G.
However, the success of 5G is highly dependent on the
country’s readiness to adopt 5G, and only 46% of broadcasters have tested 5G’s
capabilities in their organisations.
While 5G can usher in a new era of broadcasting, will it be a lifeline for FTAs?