First Full Release 19 End-to-End 5G Broadcast Solution Is Here
FROM THE EDITOR
June 6, 2026
The 5G Broadcast revolution just hit turbo mode! On May 27, 2026, Austria-based Big Blue Marble excited the industry by announcing that its Nakolos platform is now the world’s first complete end-to-end 5G Broadcast solution to fully implement the entire feature set of 3GPP Release 19. This isn’t just another incremental upgrade — it’s a game-changing leap that makes commercial 5G Broadcast deployments faster, cheaper, smarter, and far more practical than ever before.
Why Release 19 Is a Huge Deal
3GPP Release 19 (finalized late 2025) is the second major wave of 5G-Advanced, and it packs powerful new tools specifically designed to solve the real-world headaches of rolling out broadcast technology.
Key new capabilities unlocked right now:
Time Frequency Interleaving (TFI) — Supercharges signal robustness in mobile scenarios while letting operators reuse existing transmission sites. Less new hardware, more performance!
CAS-Muting - A brilliant cost-saver that allows broadcasters to repurpose current DVB-T2 infrastructure for 5G Broadcast. This slashes upfront deployment expenses dramatically.
New Frequency Bands B112 (US-focused) and B113 (Europe & global) —Opens the door for smoother, wider early deployments in key markets.
Full interoperability with new Release 19-compatible transmitters from TRedess and SYES, plus the brand-new Bitstem 5GR receiver platform.
Fe-mbms providing 60-70% increased throughput over e-mbms
Thanks to this ecosystem push, broadcasters and network operators can now test and launch real, production-grade 5G Broadcast networks — not just lab proofs-of-concept.
The Bigger Picture: 5G Broadcast Is Accelerating Fast in 2026
This announcement comes at the perfect time. Across the US and Europe, momentum is building with commercial pilots, LPTV deployments, and growing excitement around using 5G Broadcast for live sports, breaking news, and especially emergency alerts that work even when cellular networks are overwhelmed.
Johann Mika, Chief Technology Officer at Big Blue Marble, emphasized: “Release 19 represents a concrete step forward for commercial 5G Broadcast, not a future promise.” Big Blue Marble’s Nakolos breakthrough is lighting a fire under the entire 5G Broadcast movement. The broadcast future just got a whole lot closer and a whole lot more exciting!
Stay tuned — this rocket is only just leaving the launchpad.
(Editor, 5G Broadcast Collective)
ARTICLES
Big Blue Marble Announces First End-to-End 5G Broadcast Solution Supporting Full 3GPP Release 19 Feature Set
Vienna, Austria, 27 May 2026 – Big Blue Marble announced today that its Nakolos platform is the first end-to-end 5G Broadcast solution worldwide to implement the complete feature set introduced with 3GPP Release 19, achieved in collaboration with ecosystem partners bitstem, TRedess and SYES.
A 5G Broadcast Standoff Emerges For America’s LPTV Community
On May 12, the LPTV Broadcasters Association, through its chairman and founder “SuperFrank” Copsidas, sent an open letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr asking the Commission to formally recognize the 3GPP 5G Broadcast standard as a voluntary transmission option under Part 74 for Low Power Television stations.
Dish founder Charlie Ergen makes deal to acquire controlling stake in HC2 Broadcasting
The deal appears to be predicated on Ergen’s interest in reusing licensed broadcast TV spectrum for 5G wireless connections. HC2 Broadcasting has expressed a similar interest in repurposing its spectrum for the technology, which would allow compatible 5G wireless devices to receive video, one-way data and other services.
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