Is DVB-I about to save public service media?

If the threat of losing further spectrum at 60MHz had to be faced in 2027 and not post-2030, the open-source DVB-I would be a big deal for decision-makers in many more countries than Germany, Italy, Ireland and Australia. The key and incredibly thorough trials in Germany and Italy have fascinated the entire industry, and as of 25 July, 2024, phase two of the German pilot of DVB-I has suddenly morphed into national decision time.

“The German media regulator Landesmedienanstalten invited the four main German broadcast groups and the lobby organisation for private broadcast to join round table discussions,” explains DVB Chairman Remo Vogel. “This process was explicitly supported and demanded by ARD, ProSieben, Sat1, RTL and ZDF.”

A Distribution Strategy Consultant with the ARD group division Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg, Vogel’s constant focus on content distribution makes him the ideal person to drive DVB-I beyond its trials.

“The aim of this initiative is a national DVB-I market introduction,” he continues. “Germany is the core, and the market is watching. But a lot of people are waiting. I have done a report for the last two years to convince people that it is a national market, but while it really is progressing, it has been a hard process.”

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No common strategy

Have all the national media regulators formed a joint policy for the adoption of DVB-I (in Italy, national comms regulator AGCOM is moving towards a final decision)?

“Absolutely not,” states Vogel. “There is no discussion between them. AGCOM is not talking to OFCOM. OFCOM is not talking to the German regulator. We had this discussion at the last DVB World and the answer was that the markets are so different that it makes no sense to agree a common strategy. Italy is a big terrestrial market so they can have a use case for digital transformation. In Germany we do not have the same use case, but we do need to set up the infrastructure for the market launch.

“We now have to wait for the decision,” he adds.

Marco Pellegrinato, R&D Director with Mediaset, has recently identified two next-era milestones for advancing the Italian trial. Firstly: “Pronunciation about rules and policies on behalf of AGCOM – specifically for DVB-I and HbbTV services with appropriate local community network (LCN) allocations for IP channels.

“Second, we expect afterwards to launch a certification regime for compliant TV sets, launching an appropriate DVB-I sticker for all compliant TV sets off the shelf,” he says.

Vogel observes: “That’s the discussion to be honest. This (and for anti-trust reasons) is exactly why we are setting up this round table. There is a certain competition between the Germans and Italians, but it is a very healthy competition, and I really like their focus.

“Our initial idea of setting up phase two was for a proposal for a technical route for the DVB-I launch,” he adds. “There is no organisation that develops IPTV like this. We tried the chicken and egg thing, but at a certain point of impact, you end up in a discussion on what are the requirements for service, and is this service list for TVs only? With HbbTV on top, my perfect perspective is that DVB-I just makes sense of where the proper issue of TV application is available. What the bottom does, is all the transmission technology like 5G Broadcast, then on top of this is the content discovery system which manages the transmission technology. DVB-I is really a technology which helps the whole broadcast market.”

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Well-formed presentation

New capabilities have appeared, like the signalling of accessibility services back in Q1 this year.

“It is a new approach and a complete re-working of the way it was specified. And there are plenty of discussions about how we implement it,” says Vogel. “For me, signalling is a very good step towards proper and well-formed presentation. But it needs more work.

“We at the German DVB-I trial are already working on the implementation for it, to be a reference for manufacturers. But we need a little more time,” he says. “The next level is the channelisation of DVB-I I data. This is not open-source, but even here it’s got a proper operation.

“We have written our requirements down and they are implemented, and it has become part of the developer’s licence, and part of the standard,” he adds.

Does DVB-I sponsor ideas for other open-source type projects?

“The notion that we can do other things as well is a very interesting topic and it is something I want to discuss with the industry. But currently, we are very focussed on the job the DVB already has.”

Vogel identified industry management as a big issue. “You cannot wait until the frequency is lost. Think enterprise IP devices, and you have to prepare a few years earlier, and when the situation comes up you can just manage this quite easily – whatever you want.

“What I plan for the DVB is the idea of turning up. A campaign for DVB which shows what is available, because there is a lack of acknowledgement and recognition in management these days,” he says. “We should remind people of what DVB is today and how important it is. This is a good base for further developments.”

Around the world, the DVB-I fan base includes RTE in Ireland, small teams in Poland and the UK, plus Digital Television Group (DTG) technical support. Spain showed initial interest but is too fragmented. Australia jumped on board very keenly. “They have a complete trial activity,” adds Vogel. “I had to set up the German DVB-I trial at NHK Labs, and there are DVB-I discussions in both China and Thailand. There is a lot of stuff going on, and we are trying to coordinate for the PSMs.

“It is an open system, not controlled by a TV manufacturer, which enables business models,” he adds. “Yes, it is mainly for PSM, but it can be for military or private stuff.”

Vogel had been attracted to the new UK platform Freely, which is an HbbTV operator app.

“The preparation of Freely was a kind of difficult discussion with OFCOM, but what I see and want to point out is that the Freely operator approach fits with DVB-I as well. If you use Freely on open devices, this gains us opportunities for further developments,” he says.

Greater value for consumers

Senior Lead Engineer Meenakshi Kachawaha is one of the two DVB-I leads at DTG. Reacting to Mediaset’s AGCOM plan, she says: “AGCOM spoke at the HbbTV Symposium and appears to be committed to an early DVB-I launch, so we anticipate a more formal green light soon.

“DVB-I offers a solution for broadcasters to launch new enhanced services. It can deliver the same content on various device types – from smartphones, tablets and laptops – to TV sets, set-top boxes, and streaming sticks.

“A device can adapt the DVB-I metadata to its own UI and style. The opportunities in terms of enhancing the user experience even further are huge, and user interaction for accessible and personalised content adds great value for consumers.”

On the issue of the TV set vendors and their involvement in the trials, Kashawaha comments: “A number of large brands already have working DVB-I solutions, and they could download DVB-I software to hundreds of thousands of market TVs. A good indicator from our side is that those leading brands have already licensed our DVB-I test suites.

“The real interoperability of an end-to-end system between TV services, network services and receivers is now proven,” she adds. “As the industry evolves, the balance between broadcast and broadband services on connected TVs continues to be a focal point for innovation and collaboration.”

In conclusion, Vogel adds: “DVB-I is the DVB’s greatest technology at this point. The preparation for any change is one of our big headaches.”

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