DVB is developing filecasting as a general-purpose delivery capability over broadcast infrastructure. The approach builds on DVB Multicast Adaptive Bit Rate and DVB Native IP Broadcasting, allowing a provider to push a catalogue while client applications select the files they need.
Proposed use cases include video-on-demand libraries, software and game updates, large data sets and CDN pre-positioning. Because the same transmission reaches every receiver in coverage, the distribution cost is largely fixed rather than increasing with the number of downloads.
The model could move predictable bulk traffic away from unicast peaks and use capacity that operators already control. It also reframes terrestrial or satellite broadcast as an IP delivery utility that can serve applications beyond linear television.
The work is still under standardisation, and receiver behaviour, catalogue trust, cache invalidation, content protection and return-path requirements are not settled deployment details. Operators should treat it as a standards direction and simulate real catalogue and storage policies before reserving spectrum or capacity.
