The BBC Wants Mobile TV Urgently



Mark Thompson is in charge at the BBC. Creative Commons licenced  photo by Eirik Solheim.

Mark Thompson, the General Director of the BBC, spoke about mobile TV to the Guardian yesterday.

Thompson wants broadcasters which clearly includes the BBC, mobile phone manufacturers, telecom operators and the UK government to work together to create a "road map" for broadcasted mobile television.

"I believe that there's a strong case for the UK's broadcasters, mobile phone operators, Ofcom and government to come together to develop a roadmap for the introduction of mobile TV in this country. This would be complementary to the availability of TV content on demand, whether streamed or cached on the device and would enable the public to access time-critical content – news, major sports events and so on – wherever they are."

No meetings have yet been planned, but he calls for the process to be "kickstarted." So what does that mean? I have not spoken to Mark Thompson about this, but if you want to kickstart something, you are usually in a hurry. I do therefore believe that this may open the way to mobile TV in the UK in time for the Olympics in London next summer.

In order to do so, there is only one feasible standard out there, namely DMB. DMB services are being introduced in more and more countries as we speak (the last ones being Netherlands, Vietnam, Malaysia, South Africa, Dominican Republic and Belgium).

A little DMB help from the EU
Todays speech by Neelie Kroes, the Commissioner for Digital Agenda, should also help Tompson pick the technology to proceed with when it comes to mobile tv. She mentions the usage of open standards, and DMB, DAB and DAB+ specifically. Those three are all part of the same family (they can use the same transmitters and antennas and be received by the same receivers), and BBCs various digital radio channels via DAB already covers 86% of the UK population (set to increase to 93% by the end of the year). 

Devices, as Mark Thomson mention, are also plentiful when it comes to DMB. There is already a wide range of available receivers on the market. And a new generation of terminals, mobile phones and tablet PCs (with GSM, 3G and/or Wifi that also enables interactivity and on demand programmes) are about to be introduced.

The DMB network in Greater Oslo was up and running less than 9 months after Norwegian Mobile TV Corporation was founded. There is still plenty of time to get everything up and running way ahead of the summer games in 2012. Especially if other broadcasters, device manufacturers, telecom operators and Ofcom (the British Post and Tele Authority) listen to Thompson's wish for a kickstart.

The 2800% Difference

There are huge differences between countries when it comes to broadcasting and how broadcasting networks must be built and operated. Topography, legislation, urbanization and the number of people all play a role when determining the strategy for a transfer from anaologue radio to digital radio. Why do these things matter?

Topography and geography
Mountains, bodies of water and big buildings reflect radio signals. Digital signals are strengthened through reflections, analogue signals are destroyed. The size of the country does also play an important part, so does neighboring countries.

Legislation
Some governments have set a preliminary switch off date for FM, others are merely following the market, yet others are expected to decide on one certain date and ensure predictability for both broadcasters and listeners. Legislation is also relevant when it comes to how powerful the radio signals can be (laws govern maximum radiated power from transmitters).

Urbanization
In some countries most people live in towns and cities which require few transmitters. Other countries have a much more rural population pattern which requires more transmitters and makes it much more expensive to cover the country.  

Population
A big population increases the potential revenue base and lowers the cost per reached listener.

To cover two countries with radio signals can never be seen as two identical operations. Even the type of trees in a forest or the temperature of water affects how signals are spread and therefore also how networks have to be built in order to provide good coverage to the end users..

2800%
I have listed examples from Denmark, Norway and the UK below to show certain differences. Let's look at how many people an average transmitter reaches:

The reach of one average FM transmitter 
1) Denmark: 69,356 persons
2) UK: 52,219 persons
3) Norway: 2,421 persons

The average FM transmitter in the UK does in other words reach 21 times more people than in Norway while the average FM transmitter in Denmark reaches 28 times more people. That's a difference of 2800% per transmitter.

The reach of one average DAB transmitter
1) UK: 124,700 persons
2) Denmark: 50,227 persons
3) Norway: 8,954 persons

With DAB, the difference is cut in half between the UK and Norway, but not in Denmark where they reach fewer people per DAB transmitter than what is the case with FM. The reason is that the power for a DAB transmitter can be substantially lower and still give similar results (due to the robustness of a digital signal). Even with 50% additional DAB transmitters that give the listeners 200% more radio stations, the electricity costs still go down for the Danes.

Cutting power, boosting choice
The costs for Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) to transmit via FM is extremelly high, especially when you look at the cost per person. So much for being a radio broadcaster in the worlds most beautiful country in the world.

In Norway 23% of the population lives in small villages or even more isolated from neighbours. And the country is among the 7 biggest ones in Europe area wise. In smaller Denmark and the UK a higher percentage of the population lives in towns and cities. 

The extremeties of Norway makes it natural for Norway to show the way, to be the first to switch off FM. Britain has already opened up for analogue switch off in 2015, but this depends on the willingness among Brits to get access to more radio stations and go green. Can Norway beat them to it? No shut off date for FM in Norway exists quite yet, but to get one in place and start telling people about the obvious benefits would greatly help the budgets of broadcasters and give them more money for programming. Plus provide many more radio stations to everyone, in a more environmentally friendly manner as NRK will only need half the electricity for many more radio stations when FM is history and DAB reaches everyone.

Money will certainly also be saved also in Britain where we are looking at estimations that show electricity being cut to less that a third. Denmark is smaller and easier to cover, but even there estimated savings on electricity will amount to 20%. And if or when we see a successfull switch off in Norway, that may help pave the way for others.

Why cover everyone?
Of course, there is no need to cover everyone in a country. Those living on rural farms or islands have preety much chosen to do so themselves and should face the consequences. Shouldn't they? Well, commercial broadcasters rarely reach everyone in a country with their signals. But public service broadcasters have an obligation through the way they are financed (the license fees) to cover everyone. The BBC, DR and NRK are all license funded public service broadcasters.

I have used information made available online by the public service broadcasters in Denmark, Norway and the UK to examplify differences. The following estimates are based on my own counts, understanding of available information and calculations:

Denmark
Area:  43,094 sq. km.
Population: 5,525,000
Persons per sq. km.:  128
Urbanization: 87% of population 
Terrain: Flat, some hills, no mountains. 

DR via FM (4 radio stations)
Sites: 25
Transmitters: 79
Persons per transmitter on average: 69,936
Estimated power consumption per year: 3.3 million kWh
Persons per kWh per year: 1.7

DR via DAB (18 radio stations)
Sites: 55
Transmitters: 110 (2 multiplexes)
Persons per transmitter on average: 50,227
Estimated power consumption per year: 2.6 million kWh
Persons per kWh per year: 2.1

Norway
Area: 323,802 sq. km. 
Population: 4,925,000 
Persons per sq. km.:  15
Urbanization: 77% of population  
Terrain: Huge amounts of rugged mountains broken by valleys and fjords, small scattered plains.

NRK via FM (1-5 radio stations)
Sites: 1,179
Transmitters: 2,034
People per transmitter on average: 2,421
Estimated power consumption per year: 19 million kWh
Persons per kWh per year: 0.26

NRK via DAB (13 radio stations)
Sites: 550
Transmitters: 550
People per transmitter on average: 8,954
Estimated power consumption per year: 9.5 million kWh
Persons per kWh per year: 0.52

UK
Area: 243,610 sq. km.  
Population: 62,350,000
Persons per sq. km.: 256
Urbanization: 90% of population  
Terrain: Predominantly flat with rugged hills, some low mountains.

BBC via FM (1-5 radio stations)
Sites: 395
Transmitters: 1,194
People per transmitter on average: 52,219
Estmated kWh per year: 29 million kWh
Persons per kWh per year: 2.15

BBC via DAB (11 radio stations)
Sites: 500
Transmitters: 500
People per transmitter on average: 124,700
Estmated kWh per year: 8 million kWh
Persons per kWh per year: 7.8

Sources: 
CIA - The World Factbook, IDAG, World DMB, transmitter maps from Denmark, Norway and the UK.

Help the BBC Save 74%

How much will the BBC in Britain save on electricity by going from analogue radio transmission via FM to digital radio transmission via DAB?

I have earlier looked at Norway with it's very challenging topography and found that DAB is 20 times greener than FM. The mountains and valleys do however help digital coverage as the signals can bounce back and forth, making them stronger. The opposite is the case for analogue signals that are weakened or even killed in the case of reflections from mountains. There are few mountains in the UK.

I do not have inside knowledge about the transmitters in Britain, but the BBC is open about such matters and have made the info on transmitters publicly available on their website. Based on this, I have looked at all their FM and DAB transmitters listed there. The figures listed are however in ERP (effective radiated power), whereas the actual power usage is typically 2.5-10 times lower. Here are the figures (based on my own count, estimates and calculations):

FM, 99.8% coverage
Number of sites (towers/antennas): 395
Number of transmitters: 1,194
Wattage: 2,349kW
Average wattage per transmitter (not ERP): 1.97 kW
Increase in power needed due to amplifiers: 140%
Electricity used per year: 28,829,694 kWh

DAB, 86% coverage
Number of sites (towers/antennas): 231
Number of transmitters: 231
Wattage: 107 kW
Average wattage per transmitter (not ERP): 461W
Increase in power needed due to amplifiers: 400%
Electricity used per year: 3,736,836 kWh

The 1-6 radio stations transmitted via FM (based on coverage areas) does in other words use 7.7 times more electricity than the 11 radio stations transmitted via DAB. But the coverage of some of the FM channels are better than for DAB in certain areas, so we have to take that into account.

The current coverage of DAB is 86%, with 231 transmitters. It is always more costly to cover the last few percentages than the first, so let us assume that the BBC needs twice as many DAB receivers as today to cover 99.8% of the UK. That means 462 transmitters and sites. I'll even round that up to 500.

Based on the average wattage of the existing transmitters, we'll then get the following scenario:

DAB, 99.8% coverage (estimate)
Number of sites (towers/antennas): 500
Number of transmitters: 500
Wattage: 230 kW
Average wattage per transmitter (not ERP): 461W
Increase in power needed due to amplifiers: 400%
Electricity used per year: 8,088,390 kWh

With this estimate FM still consumes 3.6 times more electricity than DAB. Electricity prices in the UK are typically between 6.5 and 12 pence per kWh. Let us say that the BBC has managed to bargain on the price as they use a fair amount of juice. I have calculated electricity costs based on three different scenarios.

1) Great bargaining skills, paying an average throughout every day of the year of 5p per kWh.
2) OK bargaining skills, paying an average throughout every day of the year of 7.5 pence per kWh.
3) Poor bargaining skills, paying an average throughout every day of the year of 10p per kWh.

That gives us the following costs, in electricity alone, per year.

Scenario 1, 5p per kwH, 99.8% coverage
FM: 1,441,485 GBP a year
DAB: 404,420 GBP a year
Savings: 1 million GBP per year.

Scenario 2, 7.5p per kwH, 99.8% coverage
FM: 2,162,227 GBP a year
DAB: 606,629 GBP a year
Savings: 1.6 million GBP per year.

Scenario 3, 10p per kwH, 99.8% coverage
FM: 2,882,969 GBP a year
DAB: 808,839 GBP a year
Savings: 2 million GBP per year.

What's the damage?
BBC can in other words save approximately 1.6 million British pounds or 2.5 million USD a year, based on electricity costs alone in the least extreme scenario, if shutting off FM and transmitting only digitally. That is 74% less that what it costs for FM, in electricity that is.

Note that the numbers of transmitters are lower for DAB, whereas the number of sites are actually higher. This is the opposite of what is the case in Norway. Why is this? Topography plays a role, as mentioned above. But if you look at the transmitters you can also see a major power difference. Some of the FM transmitters are very powerful, the most powerful ones outputting 250 kW. The most powerful DAB transmitter does in comparison only output 10 kW.

FM can be shut off in 2015 if 50% of the listening in Britain happens digitally by 2013 (two years notice is required). You can in other words contribute to the BBC saving money (paid by you through the licence fee) on radio distribution and leave more money to quality programmes by listening to DAB instead of listening to FM. You will also help the environment and get a better selection of radio stations as a bonus.

Go green and help the BBC save your* money.

* Only applicable if you live in Britain and do pay the licence fee.

Also relevant:
DAB 20 Times Greener Than FM.