SEATTLE — For many low-power television station owners, pioneering the 5G Broadcast Internet possibility is very much at the forefront of the long tail of their respective business plans. Media brokers including Greg Guy of Tideline Ventures has actively engaged in conversations with LPTV parties eager to get 5G Broadcast to a viable state in the U.S.
By-invite demos from one Woodinville, Wash.-based tech company during the NAB Show New York next week could offer a glimpse of the stateside possibilities of a technology already moving forward in Europe.
Castanet 5G is “reimagining data delivery to future 5G smartphones and IoT devices,” and seeks to use both the ATSC 3.0 digital broadcast TV standard being championed by Sinclair Inc., the NAB and Sinclair’s peers as well as 5G Broadcast standards — the latter of which has emerged as a quest of “SuperFrank” Copsidas and the LPTV Broadcasters Association.
With NAB Show New York, on October 22-23 at the Javits Center, Castanet 5G is taking up shop in an executive suite at the Courtyard by Marriott, Manhattan/Midtown West on West 34th Street and 10th Avenue, a brisk 10-minute walk from the conference and expo.
There, Castanet 5G is partnering with Forsway Scandanavia AB — with support from Mainstream Data, Apogee Networks and Vodomedia — to unveil a hybrid video-on-demand-over-satellite product that blends 5G Broadcast delivery and edge-catching.
The goal: a “B2B2C” wholesale satellite services with efficiency for ISPs of all types.
Castanet 5G is led by Vern Fotheringham, the widely known wireless broadband communication industry figure. “The VoDoS satellite CDN offers ISPs a fully end-to-end wholesale service that eliminates regional data centers and middle mile costs for seamless, cost-efficient content delivery directly to consumers,” he said.
Forsway’s equipment enables direct-to-consumer access, and is integrated with VodoMedia’s online and offline digital rights management (DRM).
Forsway CEO Tobias Forsell commented, “Our hybrid VoDoS consortium creates a game-changing one-stop offering for ISPs of all types to easily roll-out video-on-demand services and live streaming to a wide range of users with low cost of delivery, streamlined connectivity, and scalability for emerging business models.”
Targeting North America first, the VoDoS offering is designed to “empower ISPs, OTT providers, and IoT operators to rethink content delivery and empower future proof business models.”
And, as Castanet 5G sees it, “We are laying the infrastructure for sustainable growth in the next decade of media distribution.”
