Another standard for mobile TV emerges

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JUST WHEN you thought there couldn't possibly be any room for yet another technology that gives you mobile TV, IPWireless has come out with one - TDtv.
It's aiming to drive yet another nail into the coffin of DVB-H, the technology which only yesterday, O2 said was wonderful. The beauty with TDtv is that it utilises spectrum that existing European operators already have.

It runs in what is known as unpaired TD spectrum and IPWireess already has four European operators already testing the system. One of which is in the UK.

The INQ saw it being demonstrated today and once again, there's no obvious deficiencies with the picture. In fact, this is the only mobile TV solution which we've ever heard of that will work at 200 mph.

TDtv has got a lot going for it. For starters, it keeps control of the broadcast content firmly in the hands of the network operator. Not a third party.

Plus it offers the chance for operators to mix niche broadcasts sent via 3G with rebroadcast TV channels carried over TDtv. Plus it shouldn't be too expensive to implement.

A further curiosity is that TDtv is actually built around MBMS - the TV version of multimedia messaging. So it broadcasts using the cellular base station.

IPWireless claims that fitting a satellite receiver to the base station would be the best way to feed it content. Wonder if BSkyB has heard of this?

Anyway, Sprint Nextel likes the idea so much it has just sunk $10 million in IPWireless. So TDtv stands a least half a chance of succeeding.

Source: The Inquirer

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British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC's mobile television service tie-up with Vodafone Group PLC has supplied more than 5 million live-TV transmissions since its November launch, BSkyB Chief Executive James Murdoch said Wednesday.

Answering questions put to him by readers on daily newspaper the Financial Times' Web site, Murdoch said that "being able to watch channels like Sky Sports News live on your mobile has proved a big success."

But he conceded mobile TV was at an early stage.

"We don't know yet what is going to work best - whether that is the underlying technology, the business model or the content that appeals most strongly," Murdoch said.

"We're working with a variety of different partners, including all of the U.K. mobile operators, as well as manufacturers who are moving forward in this space," he said.

Mobile technology offers possibilities beyond mobile broadcasting, such as setting up a TV recording remotely using a mobile phone, he said.

BSkyB operates a satellite-TV platform and the U.K.'s largest pay-TV service, with almost eight million subscribers.

Murdoch said he expects subscriptions to remain the core revenue stream for BSkyB. He said advertising represents 8% of revenue, while betting and gaming accounts for around 6% of revenue.

"So, overall, we see subscription at the core, with additional revenues from advertising and other services growing on the back of this. Importantly, we think this is the most sustainable model for investment in high-quality programming," Murdoch said on the Web site.

Source: Cellular-news

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Only he who does nothing, does nothing wrong.