Mobile TV

Perhaps the most hyped development since 3G itself, mobile TV is widely regarded as both a logical next step on the road to a fully convergent media environment, and a potential ‘killer app’ which will help the telecoms operators recoup some of the many billions of pounds they’ve invested into 3G networks.

At present, three UK networks offer a consumer mobile TV product, each using their 3G bandwidth to deliver streaming content to standalone handset applications.

Searching for an alternative to using 3G network capacities, a number of networks are testing other, dedicated broadcast technologies to deliver mobile TV. The two front running modes you’re likely to hear screams and shouts about soon are:

• DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld)
  This has been adopted by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and of all the broadcast options currently available, it’s the one most widely expected to dominate. Before this happens, significant investment would be required to set up the infrastructure.
• DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast)
  This is being tested for its ability to deliver video over existing dedicated audio-broadcast airwaves. A potential initial advantage to this mode would be that the infrastructure is already in place –meaning there could DAB-TV broadcast network coming sometime very soon.

At present (August 2006), three UK networks offer a consumer mobile TV product, each using their 3G bandwidth to deliver streaming content to standalone handset applications.

• 3 uses a MobiTV application to offer customers a range of up to around 20 channels including CNN, ITN, Cartoon Network, Bravo, Smash Hits, iFilm and Living TV
• Orange also uses the MobiTV program, calling it Orange TV, through which it offers CNN, ITN, ITN Weather, Channel 4, Cartoon Network, Living TV and MAXX Sports among its more than 16 streaming channels
• Vodafone provides a range of Sky Mobile TV packs:
• News, sports & factual channels include Sky News, CNN and Sky Sports News
• Music & entertainment includes MTV, Living TV and Sky Movies
• Variety pack channels include Channel 4, Eurosport and HBO Mobile

As a natural complement to streaming TV, the UK’s major network operators offer streamed and downloadable highlights clips from a variety of popular programmes.

Prices for mobile TV in all its forms vary across the networks, but at present only minimally. Expect to pay a monthly fee of around £5 for a selection of channels and around £10 for all the available channels – usually around 20 channels.

So how do you tune into mobile TV? Here’s what you need:

For 3G-streaming mobile TV:

• A 3G handset with enabled video capabilities
• 3G network coverage

For broadcast mobile TV:

• A compatible handset (i.e. Virgin uses DAB, O2 is trialing DVB-H)
• Correct broadcast coverage