One of the use cases being explored for 5G systems is that of remote media production. But the 5G standard also offers a built-in broadcast function, called 5G Broadcast/Multicast.
A broadcast or multicast functionality is not new in cellular systems — 5G Broadcast/Multicast has a predecessor in previous cellular generations, called MBMS: Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS), which was explored in the mid-oughts by the likes of Qualcomm (via MediaFLO), Verizon and MobiTV, providing live or linear TV services to mobile phones. But mobile TV in its early incarnations ultimately spluttered and didn’t succeed commercially. Users at the time preferred to choose their video content, even if that meant short clips from the internet and eventually from YouTube and social media, rather than watch traditional television content on their phones.
