Newsletters

Welcome to the second Nokia Mobile TV newsletter at the start of what looks like being a very exciting year of developments in mobile TV.

 

February 2006

In the US, mobile base station operator, Crown Castle Mobile Media, announced in January it is launching its live mobile TV service in the top 30 markets within the United States during 2006/7.

The company, which is changing its name to Modeo, showcased its DVB-H technology from Nokia, to delegates at last month's Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Crown Castle has already piloted DVB-H services in Pittsburgh last year and says it has 'unencumbered spectrum rights', which should provide with sufficient bandwidth to deliver mobile video without interference.

"Modeo is designed to deliver a superior mobile video experience so that consumers can enjoy shows wherever and whenever they choose," said Modeo President Michael Schueppert. Read more here »

In addition, January saw the launch of the DTV Alliance - a mobile Digital TV Alliance which has come together to deploy DVB-H to a variety of mobile devices.

The Alliance, whose current members include representatives from Intel, Modeo (formerly Crown Castle), Motorola, Nokia and Texas Instruments, is focused on DVB-H as the broadcast medium of choice in the North American mobile market. By utilizing existing wireless infrastructures, the Alliance is looking to offer quick and cost-effective DVB-H deployments. Read more about the DTV Alliance here »

UK operator O2 released positive results concerning its DVB-H trials in the Oxford area of the country. The company said preliminary findings from its trial conducted among a cross-section of users showed that they were 'overwhelmingly favourable' towards the service and would consider taking it up.

The O2 trial, carried out in partnership with broadcast technology company Arqiva, broadcast 24-hour live access to 16 TV channels to 375 O2 users representing "a wide range of demographics" in the 18-44 age band. According to the company, 83 per cent of the triallists were "satisfied" with the service while 76 per cent indicated they would take up the service within 12 months. A strong channel line up is being seen as a major factor in its success with viewers. You can find out more about this here »

Quality and choice of mobile TV content will undoubtedly be crucial to the uptake of commercial DVB-H services. One of the things we will be highlighting over the next few months is how broadcasters and independent producers are tailoring their programming for mobile TV. The big media and broadcasting brands will have an important role to play here but equally important to the success of mobile TV will be the role that small specialist programme makers take in the value chain. Look for more news and analysis on this aspect next month.

Finally, February witnesses the 3GSM World Congress, held for the first time in Barcelona. Nokia will be demonstrating the DVB-H platform so if you plan to be there, please come along to Nokia's stand for a viewing and the chance to talk to people involved. For the first time, highlights from the Congress will be on air via DVB-H mobile TV across the whole city. Spanish mobile aggregator Abertis Telecom will operate the service providing live coverage of the event.


 
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