LTE Multicast

Verizon’s new offering in development, LTE Multicast, will use broadcasting’s one-to-many model to deliver video to mobile devices. Although the service is still a long way off, broadcasters see it as a threat and are responding in part by pushing forward with the development of a next-generation broadcasting system through the Advanced Television Systems Committee.

Historically, broadcast TV’s biggest foes have been cable and newspapers, but now there seems to one more major adversary: wireless operators.Wireless has been lusting after broadcast spectrum, supporting the FCC’s incentive auction. That’s even more threatening since the auction push is headed by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, the former wireless trade association chief. Now, with Verizon’s nascent LTE Multicast service, it’s also planning on making a direct play for TV stations’ audiences as well.