RENNES, France—Enensys Technologies this week announced it has completed its acquisition LTE Broadcast infrastructure software and solutions developer Expway.

The purchase is seen as strengthening both companies’ LTE Broadcast technology offerings and bolstering their ability to build and market 5G Broadcast solutions.

“The acquisition of Expway is a major milestone towards fulfilling our goal of becoming a leading provider of mobile video streaming solutions, a fast-growing market segment,” said Regis Le Roux, Enensys Technologies CEO and founder.

Acquiring Expway will enable Enensys to increase the breadth of solutions it offers for smartphones and tablets, the company said. The technologies acquired enable wireless companies to offer one-to-many broadcast solutions, thus reducing their network bandwidth demands.

With the purchase of Expway, Enensys will hold nearly 60 patents, giving the company well-tested solutions to enable mobile operators to meet the skyrocketing growth for video content on their networks, it said.

The combined technologies of the companies will also enhance the offerings of Enensys in the terrestrial broadcast, satellite and cable markets, the company said.

[Read: Enensys Finalizes Acquisition Of TeamCast]

Multicast ABR and LTE Broadcast technologies from Expway will work closely with Enensys’ local ad insertion offering for digital terrestrial television, satellite and cable network operators. The combined technologies will also address the needs of mission critical communications solutions and connected and autonomous vehicles (V2X), the company said.

“This deal will enable us to achieve a significant milestone in our ambitious development plan by expanding our coverage of broadcast optimization solutions, regardless of the technology employed, whether DTT, OTT, satellite or mobile,” said Le Roux.

The acquisition also brings business benefits to Enensys, allowing the company to leverage strategic partnerships Expway has set up with Nokia, Samsung and other device makers as well as mobile operators and equipment vendors.

Combining the companies also strengthens Enensys regionally. “It [the acquisition] will enable a faster geographical growth, particularly with a strengthening of our presence in the United States, and a quicker adoption of Expway’s technology,” said Expway CEO Thierry Sergent.

Expway employs 45 people. About 95 percent of its sales come from operators like Vodafone, Verizon and Reliance Jio. Financial details of the purchase were not immediately available.

More information is available on the Enensys Technologies website.

MUNICH, GERMANY—High-power, high-tower broadcasting to mobile phones and tablets via wireless networks has gotten one step closer with the deployment of an LTE Broadcast single frequency network in Germany.

Transmitter and RF specialist Rohde & Schwarz and antenna manufacturer Kathrein have teamed up on the deployment to deliver media and other data to mobile and portable receivers in Munich and on major traffic arteries between Munich and Salzburg. The deployment is part of the 5G TODAY research project.

LTE Broadcast, also known as Further-evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (FeMBMS), defines options for transmitting to LTE-enabled mobile equipment, including smartphones and media tablets. The standard, specified in 3GPP Release 14 in June 2017, makes it possible for the first time for LTE to enable high-power, high-tower applications in downlink-only mode while using full signal bandwidth for multicast/broadcast applications, said Rohde & Schwarz.

The release also defines a guard interval and modes to allow operation without SIM cards, a requirement for broadcast operation.

Rohde & Schwarz and Kathrein achieved a milestone Dec. 4 when an R&S THU9evo high-power transmitter (5 kW with a 100 kW ERP) went into operation at Bayerischer Rundfunk’s (BR’s) Wendelstein transmitter site. On the same day, Kathrein finished an antenna deployment for testing at BR’s transmitter site in Ismaning near Munich.

[Read: Verizon Launches 700 MHz Airborne LTE Ops]

The Rohde & Schwarz FeMBMS solution supports broadcast applications for video and IP data in high-power, high-tower topologies with bandwidths of 5 MHz and 10 MHz. The transmitter receives the reference and configuration data via 3GPP-conform protocols from an LTE EPC (Evolved Packet Core), said Rohde & Schwarz.

For the research project, the Rohde & Schwarz broadcast service control center (BSCC) provides all needed EPC functions. BR delivers broadcast services to the BSCC via an R&S AVHE100 headend, the company said.

Kathrein’s specially designed antenna in Ismaning supports transmission of diversity signals with 12 innovative UHF antenna fields installed at a height of 656 feet. It also included a 1,214-foot-long HF transmission cable as thick as a human arm. Plans call for a second R&S high-power transmitter (7 kW) to be connected to the antenna by the end of January 2019, making the SFN ready for testing and signal measurement.

5G TODAY is a Bavarian research project that is part of a European 5G field trial being set up in Germany. The Bavarian Research Foundation is funding the project. Kathrein and Rohde & Schwarz, under the leadership of the Institute for Broadcast Technology, are investigating large-scale TV broadcast in FeMBMS mode via 5G broadcast networks. Telefonica Germany and Bavarian state broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk are supporting the project.

(Editor’s note: In the United States, a high TV tower could be 2,000 feet. High-power can mean 1000 kW ERP.)