Mobile TV, a hype or a need?

Is mobile TV a hype, or a real need? The world today runs on mobile applications and devices. Think Blackberry, iPhone, N-series form Nokia etc. You can't imagine living whit-out anymore.

More and more people have access with their mobile device to high-speed data networks. GPRS, Edge, UMTS, HSDPA, ... have been and are being developed at the speed of light. And what is more intensive, and profitable, than video on a data carrier? Sure, high proces for those data packets are still a blocking factor. And maybe the minimum hardware requirements and setup procedures are also part of the problem. But I see a steady increase of the amount of viewers on the platform run by Telemak for Mobistar Mobile TV.

The future commercial launch of broadcast TV on mobile devices will certainly give a big boost to the delivery platform. DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast - Handheld) doesn't use data carriers but receives the signal from "the air". You don't pay for the packets you receive, but probably will pay a fee for accessing the service like you would cable TV.

I think that in the future, the mobile phone (device) will be the central remote control and distribution device of your media center. Receiving your Electronic Program Guide (EPG) via mobile data tranfert, programming your viewing time, receive the DVB-H channels on your mobile device, send it over bluetooth or WiFi to your TV, and you're all set. And use that same data access to send back your shopping list you just watched on TV. And why should it be your TV? We could imagine renting your TV space in the business lounge at the airport or use your hotel TV. How far is the future?

Read more - link

Mobile Video Services Worth $17 Billion By 2012: Report

By James Quintana Pearce

ABI Research has predicted that the global market value for mobile video services including video mail, video calling, and video sharing services, will grow from $1 billion in 2007 to over $17 billion by 2012. This represents a compound average growth rate of 74 percent. That's a pretty good figure (although I'm not sure if it includes pure content services), but it's a lot less that ABI was quoted as predicting two years ago when the figure given was “250 million people are expected to be watching mobile video by 2010, generating some $27 billion in sales”. Interestingly, if you do an unsophisticated calculation of multiplying the $17 billion figure given by 74 percent you get about $27 billion for the year 2013. Anyway, hopefully it indicates some of the hype is going out of the market and the predictions are coming down to reasonable levels.

According to ABI, the industrialized regions of North America, Western Europe and Asia Pacific will command 90 percent of the video services revenues. (release)

Read more - link

DVB-H Mobile Video Standard Gains Support Around the World

Plenty of challenges lie ahead, but the recent push to settle on the standard in the EU gives a boost to DVB-H's viability and long-term prospects.
In mid-July, Viviane Reding, the European Union’s commissioner for information society and media called on member states to agree upon the DVB-H standard for the delivery of mobile broadcast television.

DVB-H, or Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld, in its simplest terms enables the delivery of television to mobile devices via the broadcast paradigm of over-the-air TV, which supports any number of simultaneous users, vs. streaming or downloading, which are often limited by the capacity of servers delivering content. (See a more detailed definition here.)

DVB-H isn't the only technology vying to dominate the potential multibillion-dollar mobile TV market, and as such the EU's decision has met with criticism, especially from the camps of competing technologies, as noted in this article. Their claim is that the market should determine a winner, and that government intervention may stifle innovation.

One of the first casualties of this announcement looks to be the UK-based Movio mobile TV service offered by BT through a partnership with Virgin Mobile. The Lobster phone that offered access to this service was built on Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), a competing standard for the delivery of mobile television. While other concerns plagued the service, this recent announcement by the EU was its proverbial nail in the coffin.

Elsewhere in the world, there's been a rush to invest in DVB-H networks:
— A pilot launch in Hungary by Antenna and T-Mobile Hungary
— Trials and deployments across East Asia powered by UDCast
— A build-out of a DVB-H network in Moscow by VimpelCom
— The launch of the first commercial mobile TV service in the Phillipines
— The introduction of a new Nokia phone with DVB-H support in India.

Despite all this investment, DVB-H does have hurdles to overcome, in particular having the right spectrum available through which to deliver its broadcast signals. This article dives into what's going on in Australia regarding trials of DVB-H and the eventual launch of commercial services.

The challenge with spectrum is that DVB-H wants to ride in the 700MHz range, but in most countries that spectrum is already tied up with analog over-the-air TV broadcasts, including the United States.

Change is afoot, though, as countries that have not yet made the transition to digital broadcast TV are making moves to do so. This is perhaps best evidenced here in the U.S., where Tuesday FCC announced the rules for the upcoming spectrum auction, which will sell off that valuable 700MHz spectrum that's opening up with the upcoming transition to digital broadcasting to the highest bidder.

The U.S. isn't sitting around waiting for this spectrum to open up, as there have already been efforts to get DVB-H off the ground, though so far with limited success.

Earlier this year, Crown Castle International began testing its DVB-H-based Modeo mobile TV service in New York City, delivering six channels of live video and eight channels of audio. Despite a push to invest millions of dollars into this effort, last week they closed up shop, leasing access to the spectrum they were going to use to two private equity firms.

There's still hope for realizing success with DVB-H here in the States, though, through an upcoming trial by Aloha Partners of a service they call Hiwire in Las Vegas. On July 17, they announced their initial roster of content, which includes seven channels from Discovery Communications, six channels from MTV Networks, two channels from Turner Broadcasting, and a handful of others, including Fox News, the Travel Channel, and the Weather Channel. You can download a PDF of the release here.

No word yet on when this trial will actually launch, but with the high profile failure of Modeo, anyone interested in realizing DVB-H here in the States will need to pay close attention to the outcome herein.

Read more - link

Mobiya announces today its strategic alliance with Telemak to jointly develop a European platform for user generated content aimed at the mobile video user. The platform will be made available to mobile operators, broadcasters, publishers and portal giants.

The combination of Mobiya's mobile interactive applications with Telemak's video capturing, formatting and service capability is the industry's first alliance to tackle the explosion of mobile video within Europe.

Also today, mobile media publisher and distributor Player X announced a second round of funding, generating $10 million. The round was led by new investors Nordic Venture Partners and Long Acre Partners as well as original investor Arts Alliance. The funds will be deployed to accelerate its global mobile TV, video and gaming initiatives, with the news following on the heels of the December 2006 launch of its mobile television channel geekTV, available via UK operator 3.

Mobiya blog