The 2006 Football World Cup in Germany could become a crucial launch pad for mobile TV

Samsung and LG are promoting next generation mobile phones that allow users to watch live multi-channel TV and are competing strongly with Nokia for early stage advantage within this potentially enormous new marketplace. Demand for Sport has been a major driving force for new technologies, with predominantly male subscribers willing to pay a premium for sporting content and could again be used to leverage a subscriber base for the new services.

Manufacturers and broadcasters are still faced with uncertain and expensive technologies and an as yet unproven marketplace, but a significant future shift to mobile broadcasting could bring huge returns. Competing manufacturers are putting massive resources into the mobile TV but so far, live TV services are still in their infancy and there are ongoing battles over industry standards.

In addition to the problems of establishing a stable technological platform, the broadcasters will need to consider suitable programme formats. Current thinking is that handheld devices are only suitable for very short programming, with interest limited to possibly just 90 seconds. Media companies hope to be able to use the new platform to reformat and reuse, existing content to this additional audience.

So much is uncertain about this new technology that next year's football World Cup could just become a large pilot, with other major events such as the Beijing Olympics a more likely commercial launch.

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MOBILE TV GOES WILD AT IBC
Live DVB-H Demos & Product Offerings

Amsterdam – 9th September 2005 – With the explosion of interest in the DVB-H standard for mobile TV, IBC’05 saw the largest display to date of DVB-H products and services that are paving the way for the introduction of the most exciting new broadcasting opportunity in years. In excess of 30 companies representing the DVB-H supply chain exhibited at IBC demonstrating their huge commitment to broadcasting to the mobile handset market that analysts are predicting will be a $600 billion a year worldwide market.

Some of the highlights of the demonstrations included: Dutch network operator Nozema Services transmitting live DVB-H signals over the entire IBC exhibition area with five programmes including BBC World; complete platform solutions from Nagravision and Thales; content security solutions from Irdeto, NDS and Viaccess; transmitters from Elti and Harris Corporation; as well as mobile device manufacturers Nokia, Samsung and Siemens.

Peter MacAvock, Executive Director of the DVB Project Office, commenting on the impact of the DVB-H standard remarked, “DVB-H has captured the imagination of the entire industry. From advertisers and content developers to broadcasters and mobile network operators, everyone has quickly realised the impact that this exciting new technology will have on the future of broadcasting. It is hardly surprising to see the amount of companies exhibiting DVB-H products and services at this year’s IBC.” DVB-H is defined as a system where the information is transmitted as IP datagrams. Time slicing technology is employed to reduce power consumption for small handheld terminals. IP datagrams are transmitted as data bursts in small time slots. The front end of the receiver switches on only for the time interval when the data burst of a selected service is on air. Within this short period of time a high data rate is received which can be stored in a buffer. This buffer can either store the downloaded applications or playout live streams. The achievable power saving depends on the relation of the on/off-time. If there are approximately ten or more bursted services in a DVB-H stream the rate of the power saving for the front end could be around 90% compared to standard DVB-T receiver.

The DVB Project
The Digital Video Broadcasting Project (DVB) is an industry-led consortium of over 250 broadcasters, manufacturers, network operators, software developers, regulatory bodies and others in over 35 countries committed to designing global standards for the delivery of digital television and data services. The DVB standards cover all aspects of digital television from transmission through interfacing, conditional access and interactivity for digital video, audio and data. The consortium came together in 1993 to create unity in the march towards global standardisation, interoperability and future proofing. To date, there are numerous broadcast services using DVB standards. There are hundreds of manufacturers offering DVB compliant equipment, which is already in use around the world. DVB dominates the digital broadcasting world. A host of other services is also on-air with DVB-T, DVB-S and DVB-C including data on the move and high-bandwidth Internet over the air. Further information about DVB can be found at: www.dvb.org.
DVB is a registered trademark of the DVB Project.

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