By Briac Trébert
Published on March 20, 2026 at 19:46
12 million French citizens could discover this new feature on their smartphones as early as 2026: television without the need for internet! A revolution in the evolution of audiovisual broadcasting.
TDF (formerly Télédiffusion de France) plans “a first network of around twenty locations” from this year, before a gradual nationwide rollout by 2028.
This was announced by the infrastructure operator (privatized since 2002) in the digital and audiovisual sector at the “Mobile World Congress,” the largest mobile telephony industry event held in Barcelona in early March. The operator now believes that “the solution” is mature enough to move from a testing phase to operational deployment.
Similar to TNT, digital terrestrial television, on a television set
The “solution”? It’s “5G broadcast,” a terrestrial broadcasting technology that will allow you to receive television for free, simply, and without an internet connection on your smartphone, similar to TNT, digital terrestrial television, on a television set.
The benefits? “Free, no consumption of mobile data or Wi-Fi, a reliable service regardless of the traffic, constant image quality, and a significantly lower environmental footprint than streaming,” lists TDF.
The technology operates in the UHF band (ultra-high frequency, the radio spectrum between 300 MHz and 3,000 MHz), on the same frequencies as TNT, utilizing its infrastructure.
Concretely, 5G broadcast allows for live television reception on smartphones: without Wi-Fi, without consuming mobile data, with very low latency, and much lower energy consumption than traditional data networks.
Among the first locations announced for the deployment of 5G broadcast: the metro in Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) from summer 2026, “to demonstrate the technology’s capability to function in complex mobility environments.”
Public transport and major events
The goal? “To guarantee free, secure, and reliable access to audiovisual content even in case of network saturation,” explains Karim El Naggar, the CEO of TDF on LinkedIn. An additional TNT reception mode that will also enable channels to reach the younger audience.
A technology particularly suited to mobile usage scenarios, outdoors, which has already been tested during the Paris 2024 Olympics and allowed for “end-to-end technical validation.”
“Low battery and data consumption, image quality, no latency,” lists TDF, particularly suitable for use in public transport or at major events.
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