Content for Mobile TV
Sponsored by Qualcomm MediaFLO Technologies
Considering the case
for mobile television
DR GLODINA CONNAN-LOSTANLEN, business development manager, IPTV & MoTV, Harris
Broadcast Communications, EMEA, reports.
f there is one thing on which we all one of the toughest So while 3G video is the route for
I
seem to be agreed, it is that the old challenges. interactive content and maybe video on
days of consumers sitting at home The broadcast demand, there is a more pressing need for a
and watching programmes sent to spectrum is crowded, broadcast service. Which needs separate
them by broadcasters over linear channels are and new entrants to spectrum, and a network of transmitters.
over. Now there is a growing demand for the market have to Here we run into the challenge of
content anywhere, anytime, on any device - fight for space. The standards, with a number of different
and the expectation that both the digital dividend broadcast formats already proposed. In the US,
technologists and the content owners should created by the Qualcomm has rolled out its MediaFlo system.
meet this demand. analogue shut off The most successful mobile services in the
As I write this article, for example, there over the next few world are in Korea and Japan using ISDB - 15
has been no small unrest with consumers, years will, in theory, million users in 2007, perhaps double that by
where Olympic rights owning broadcasters create the space for now. Because of the nature of the television
decided to time-shift the opening ceremony to mobile television, market in the US, there is growing interest in
bring it into peak viewing hours, and thus but that is not a
Dr Glodina Connan-
adding mobile television to a station’s own
Lostanlen.
maximise its advertising revenue. Sports fans certainty. multiplex, using a system such as the Harris
reacted angrily by chasing live streams around Governments and their technical advisers and LG proposition, MPH.
the Internet, switching faster than broadcasters have yet to determine their plans, and there is The European Union has put its weight
and the IOC could get feeds taken down. a real risk that they will be decided at the behind the DVB-H system. It is designed for
The message of this should be clear: national level. Further, some governments handheld applications, and in particular it was
Consumers now expect to be able to watch may decide how the digital dividend will be developed with indoor use in mind. Some
when they want, and at least some will be realised in a spectrum auction. This is a other formats, and certainly the sometimes
very active in seeking out content if the prospect that fills the mobile telephony proposed use of standard DVB-T, do not offer
traditional supplier does not meet their needs. industry with dread, having recently spent anything like satisfactory reception on small
Mobile television is an important part of huge sums of money buying the spectrum to antennae inside buildings.
this trend. It has clear attractions for the create their 3G networks - sums that, in As the research shows, 70% of mobile
consumer: It tends to be always in the pocket retrospect, look far too high. television watching is done indoors - the
(if not the hand) of the user, so is perfect for Mobile network operators (MNO) are still majority at home, incidentally - this is an
instant access, either to fill in otherwise dead having to justify their 3G investments to their important issue. Selection of a broadcast
time (the daily commute) or to view a time- shareholders, so are naturally reluctant to standard must make indoor reception a
specific event. To have a device as attractive invest in further technology. Indeed, some priority.
and richly functional as an iPhone and not be have already launched mobile video services But as equipment suppliers, we can do little
able to watch television on it seems, to the over 3G, albeit with not much success. more than make this sort of recommendation.
outside observer, very strange. The problem is that video over 3G is a The choice of standard will be dependent upon
And yet there have been relatively few unicast service: Each viewer, even if watching spectrum, legal and business factors. As a
rollouts of mobile television to date. The the same content at the same time, is a global entity, Harris has chosen to support all
reasons behind this tend to be complex and separate virtual circuit. A single 3G cell can of the available standards with modular
interlinked: There are legal issues, technology only support about 16 simultaneous viewers, equipment, which means we can deliver
limitations and a tough business case to build, even at the lowest quality - and all the headends and transmitter networks for any
all before a service can be built. research suggests that this quality is widely application. age 26.
Legislation and licensing constraints are seen as unacceptable. Aggregating the recent But because we can support all these
the first hurdles to be cleared. It is never as commercial trials, consumers on average different broadcast standards, it is easy to
simple as putting up a transmitter and calling watched 50 minutes a day of broadcast mobile overlook that this hides a very real barrier to
yourself a broadcaster. This process is linked television but only three minutes of 3G mobile commercial success in a way which is perhaps
to spectrum allocation, and this is generally video. not immediately obvious.
Continued on P
24 IBE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
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