Q&A – Cordiant Digital: Kevin Moroney on 5G Broadcast, the accessible and affordable digital revolution

Recent trials led by broadcasters and industry groups have explored how major events can be streamed to millions of devices simultaneously, using existing broadcast infrastructure rather than traditional one-to-one data connections. The Paris 2024 and Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics have served as a proving ground for 5G Broadcast, a technology designed to deliver live content to smartphones at scale without overloading mobile networks.

Despite its potential, 5G Broadcast remains relatively unknown outside industry circles. Investor attention has largely focused on capital-intensive areas such as AI and data centres. Yet this technology presents a markedly different profile: it requires limited new infrastructure, builds on existing assets, and offers a comparatively low-risk investment case.

Its relevance is growing as viewing habits shift. Audiences are increasingly watching live content on mobile devices, while streaming continues to dominate consumption. But streaming at scale is inherently inefficient, placing growing strain on networks and energy systems.

To understand the investment case and future potential of this emerging technology, inspiratia spoke to Kevin Moroney, Managing Director of Broadcast at Cordiant Digital Infrastructure.

Could you tell us about Cordiant Digital Infrastructure and its work in 5G Broadcast?

Moroney: Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited is an investment trust focused on digital infrastructure, including broadcast infrastructure, fibre networks and data centres. The portfolio is fairly diverse: we operate data centre assets in the Czech Republic, New York and Belgium, the latter in partnership with TINC. On the fibre side, we own two fibre network companies in Ireland. The broadcast segment has operations in markets such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Belgium.

The core idea behind the Company is quite simple: digital infrastructure is a strong long-term investment because demand for data keeps growing. People are using more and more data online, whether through streaming, cloud services or connectivity in the home. As a result, the infrastructure that supports that demand becomes increasingly valuable.

Our strategy is “Buy, Build, and Grow”. We acquire mid-market infrastructure companies with strong local market positions and capable management teams. Then we work closely with those teams to help expand the business by improving operations, investing in new capabilities or adding complementary assets through bolt-on acquisitions.

Ultimately, the goal is to strengthen these companies and drive long-term growth to delivers better returns for our investors. Within that broader strategy, broadcast infrastructure, and increasingly technologies such as 5G Broadcast, is an area where we see interesting opportunities for development and innovation.

What is 5G Broadcast?

Moroney: 5G Broadcast is based on standards developed by ETSI and the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, or 3GPP. The 3GPP is the international body that develops the global standards for wireless communications, the standards that underpin the mobile networks and devices we all use today.

Every smartphone contains a modem, which is the component that communicates with cellular networks. That modem operates according to these common 3GPP standards. Because of this, technologies that are included in the standard, such as 5G Broadcast, can potentially be supported directly by mobile devices, without the need for a SIM card.

What makes 5G Broadcast interesting is that it brings the benefits of broadcast to smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

One of the advantages is efficiency. Content can be broadcast to all devices simultaneously compared to unicast streaming where individual data streams are transmitted uniquely to each and every device; this duplication consumes more electromagnetic spectrum. Studies have shown that broadcast can transmit 40% more data using 80% less spectrum compared with unicast streaming.

5G Broadcast opens up a range of other possibilities. Of course, it can be used for television and multimedia broadcasting, but it also has potential for delivering data services in situations where users may not have internet connectivity or access to a cellular network. It can be used for multi-media notifications at times of emergencies e.g. large-scale power outages, floods or conflicts.  It can also be used to provide positioning services as a backup to or replacement for GPS technology which can be interfered with by bad actors. That combination of efficiency, reach and flexibility is what is driving interest in the technology globally.

Cordiant is also involved in the 5G Broadcast Strategic Task Force. How does Cordiant work with partners across Europe to advance the technology?

Moroney: The 5G Broadcast Strategic Task Force brings together organisations from European countries that are working to advance the deployment of the technology. Initially, the group included partners from France, Germany, Poland, Czechia and Belgium, and more recently the Netherlands and Spain have joined with Austria and Sweden likely to get on board soon. Outside Europe, Brazil, US, China are seeking to deploy the technology.

In Europe, 5G Broadcast will utilise the same broadcast infrastructure used for terrestrial broadcast using DVB-T2. In the US and Brazil, the same applies, using ATSC III protocols (equivalent to DVB-T2) with 5G Broadcast interleaved to provide access to mobile devices. This means that we do not have to rebuild our infrastructure. Instead, we add some active equipment to enable 5G Broadcast capabilities, while most of the underlying network remains the same. As a result, deployment can happen relatively quickly.

The idea behind the alliance is to create a critical mass within Europe and beyond. By coordinating efforts across multiple markets, we can demonstrate that there is a meaningful scale for 5G Broadcast rather than isolated national initiatives.

Building this broader international momentum is important because ultimately, the ecosystem needs to be attractive to handset manufacturers, companies like Apple, Samsung, Honor, Motorola and Xiaomi as well as chipset manufacturers such as Qualcomm and MediaTek. If the technology is only present in a small number of markets, it becomes harder to justify integration into devices. But if there is a clear global opportunity, then it becomes much more compelling for those manufacturers to support it.

What kind of business model do you see emerging for 5G Broadcast? Who are the main customers, and where will the revenue come from?

Moroney: The revenue model for 5G Broadcast will be somewhat different from the traditional television model, but it broadly breaks down into a few key segments.

The first is broadcast television, particularly free-to-air broadcasters. Advertising is likely to remain a major part of the ecosystem. Globally, TV advertising still represents a significant share of the digital TV market – well over $100 billion – and remains an important revenue stream. In this case, broadcasters would be the primary customers for the network capacity, and their revenue would continue to come largely from advertising.

The technology can also support subscription-based models. However, as with traditional broadcasting, this will likely represent a smaller share of the overall market because free-to-air services tend to reach wider audiences and remain more popular in many countries.

Another important segment is government services, particularly for public safety and multi-media emergency communications. 5G Broadcast provides a very robust way to deliver emergency alerts directly to mobile devices. One of the key advantages is that it does not rely on traditional cellular networks, which can become overloaded or even fail during major incidents.

During large-scale power outages we have seen that mobile networks can go down, making it impossible for communications with the public. A broadcast-based system can remain operational and deliver messages directly to devices. This can be more than just a simple text warning but multimedia messages that provide clearer guidance on what people should do in an emergency.

The third segment is data services. Because the technology can deliver data independently of the internet or cellular networks, it opens up interesting possibilities. For example, it could be used to distribute mapping data, software updates and other data to devices without the need for cellular mobile coverage.

Taken together, broadcast media, government services and data distribution are likely to form the core revenue streams for 5G Broadcast as the ecosystem develops.

Sustainability is a growing focus in digital infrastructure. How does 5G Broadcast compare to traditional streaming in terms of energy use and carbon footprint?

Moroney: One of the key advantages of 5G Broadcast is that, as a broadcast technology, it is inherently more energy-efficient than traditional telecoms-based streaming.

The reason comes down to how the networks are structured. IP and cellular networks rely on a large number of servers, connections and distributed points of presence, all of which consume energy as data is delivered individually to users. By contrast, broadcast networks cover much larger areas with far fewer transmission points, meaning they require significantly less infrastructure to deliver the same content.

As a result, several studies have shown that broadcast can be up to ten times more energy-efficient per video hour compared to streaming over IP networks.

Globally, video distribution accounts for an estimated 5–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions: 5G broadcast can and will improve the environmental impact of this sector, supporting broader sustainability goals.

From an investor’s perspective, how does the risk and CapEx profile of 5G Broadcast compare to other digital infrastructure assets like fibre or data centres?

Moroney: It is actually a very attractive profile. In many ways, the risk is similar to or even lower than traditional broadcast infrastructure, mainly because we are utilising infrastructure which already exists.

We will add a relatively small amount of active transmission equipment to enable 5G Broadcast capabilities. So, from a capital expenditure perspective, it is quite limited.

In terms of allocation within the trust, it will involve a very small proportion of total capital investment, less than 1%.

But despite the relatively small investment, this technology is strategically important for several reasons:

• Supports existing terrestrial (DVB-T2) broadcast TV services

• Provides a superior user experience to watch live TV and opens broadcast services to younger audiences

• Provides a way to offer additional services like data, and emergency warning without access to the internet

• Strengthens the case to retain 600MHz UHF spectrum 

That is why, from our perspective, 5G Broadcast is a necessary complement to existing networks.