Nokia Networks has announced that company is working with a range of partners in the field trial of wide-area TV broadcasting using a single LTE frequency within UHF spectrum. In a Single Frequency Network (SFN) all base stations use exactly the same frequency to transmit TV content, which maximizes the number of simultaneous TV channels broadcast over a large geographical area in a given amount of spectrum.

The trial, which began transmissions in early July in Munich, Germany, uses evolved Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (eMBMS) software running in Nokia Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Stations. The Nokia LTE equipment is deployed at four sites of the Bavarian broadcast company, Bayerischer Rundfunk, in Northern Munich. The sites are connected by a high performance optical transport network.

According to Nokia, current LTE Broadcast applications focus on delivering media content to contained locations, such as stadiums and concert halls, over limited periods of time. The Munich trial is applying the technology on UHF spectrum, using part of the 700 MHz band to broadcast over a 200 km2 area. To maximize the efficiency of the LTE Broadcast, the SFN has been optimized for tighter synchronization of neighbor cells to increase interference robustness. The trial aims to show that LTE could be used to complement and in the long run, even provide another option to regional digital TV distribution standards, such as DVB-T in Europe.