Advocates for low power television stations in the U.S. have formally asked the FCC to allow them to voluntarily transmit 5G Broadcast as an alternative to ATSC 1.0 or 3.0.
In a petition filed with the commission this week by XGN/X1 Mobile and Tyche Media LLC, the proponents reiterate their advocacy of using the global 3GPP 5G Broadcast standard to replicate most current broadcast services rather than transitioning to ATSC 3.0.
Frank Copsidas, current chairman of the LPTV Broadcasters Association as well as the licensee of seven LPTV stations is leading the charge. Copsidas is also founder of XGN and X1 Mobile, which showed what they said was “the world’s first commercial 5G Broadcast smartphone” at MWC Congress in Barcelona earlier this year. Both are focused on deploying 5G Broadcast, with X1 Mobile operating in the U.S. and X1 Mobile in the U.S. and Ireland.
Tyche Media LLC is the licensee of Boston’s WCRN-LD, which is currently operating under an experimental STA for 5G Broadcast to conduct field tests and proof-of-concept demonstrations to collect critical real-world data supporting the technical feasibility and regulatory compliance of 5G Broadcast transmission by LPTV stations.
The petitioners proposed that LPTV stations use 5G Broadcast to maintain most current services, including at least one linear, free-to-air video stream at a minimum resolution of 720p. LPTV stations must also allocate an average of at least 50% of remaining channel capacity (and no less than 2 MHz) to public safety solutions (e.g., first-responder data, emergency alerts deliverable in under 0.5 seconds, and high-accuracy positioning).
It also proposed that stations eligible for mandatory carriage (must-carry) not adopt 5G Broadcast to avoid what they termed “burdening multichannel video programming distributors.”
In May, the LPTV Broadcasters Association sent a letter to Brendan Carr, asking the FCC Chairman to “fast track” a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in response to HC2 Broadcasting’s 2025 Petition for Rulemaking (MB Docket No. 25-168) and move expeditiously toward final rules. HC2—which owns 131 LPTV/Class A stations and four full-power stations—has been granted experimental licenses to allow two LPTV stations in Connecticut to test 5G Broadcast.
In its current filing, the petitioners reference this earlier filing with the FCC by HC2 Broadcasting and said the new petition is “substantially different” from HC2’s
“HC2’s proposal contemplates exclusive datacasting with no continuing linear free-to-air obligation and no dedicated public-safety capacity,” the filing stated.. “This Petition, by contrast, requires a high-quality linear free-to-air stream and permanently reserves substantial bandwidth for public safety, including first-responder applications capable of saving lives. The difference is fundamental: one prioritizes private data delivery; the other prioritizes the public interest that broadcasters are required to serve.”
In addition to justifying the three-plus years of research, development and testing of 5G Broadcasting, the petitioners said their proposal would improve their ability to serve their audience instead of transitioning to ATSC 3.0, which they have criticized as too expensive and technologically unnecessary.
Their proposals would require a higher-quality free-to-air linear stream (minimum 720p) than the lower-resolution flexibility often associated with ATSC 3.0; guarantee a minimum average of 50% of remaining capacity (and never less than 2 MHz) for public safety solutions, and leverage a single worldwide 3GPP standard so that travelers and foreign visitors can receive emergency alerts on the same technology used nearly everywhere cellular service is available.
They also claimed that 5G Broadcast would allow LPTV operators to deliver those emergency alerts in under one-half second through efficient one-to-many broadcasting rather than unicast cellular delivery. They also “reject the notion that exclusive private datacasting without linear service or public-safety obligations constitutes the best and highest use of broadcast spectrum," adding that moving to 5G Broadcast would “enable rapid, low-cost deployment suited to low-power, low-tower LPTV facilities, without the private fee structures of ATSC 3.0.”
Petitioners reiterated their support for an alternative to ATSC 3.0.
“No mandate to ATSC 3.0 for LPTV,” the petition concluded. “Let broadcasters tailor their individual facilities to what best suits the local community and serves the best public interest.”
