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Submitted by Mike Grenville on Fri, 10 Sep 2004 12:29 |
The UK’s first usability trial of multi-channel television to mobile phones has been announced starting spring 2005 around Oxford
The 500 O2 customers will be provided with a multimedia mobile phone with a built-in digital TV receiver that will cover 120 square km around Oxford using nine broadcast transmitters.
The 16 TV channels on offer will music, sport, news, comedy, soaps, documentary, drama, cartoons and specialist channels, including interactive gaming and shopping. The trial will test consumer demand for mobile TV services and the perceived value of specific types of content as well as likely viewing habits that could shape an eventual service proposition.
The trail involves O2 and ntl together with Sony Semiconductor & Electronic Solutions (SES) and Nokia, both of whom were instrumental in the development of the DVB-H standard and will make available their prototype DVB-H receiver devices. Nokia will also supply the complete service system as well as the necessary eCommerce modules and interfaces, enabling full-scale testing of the technical and commercial concept.
Oxford Trial
The Oxford trial is the first of its kind in the UK and unique in being focused on commercial aspects of mobile TV. ntl will develop the TV channel portfolio, making use of its broadcast customer base, and will design, build and operate the transmission network. O2 will contribute its experience in content delivery and mobile video, enabling O2 customers in the UK to be the first to preview future mobile services of this type.
The trial will use the DVB-H broadcast transmission standard for handheld devices – specially designed for low power consumption and robust reception – which is an efficient ‘one-to-many’ method of delivering content in a way that complements the functionality of third-generation networks currently being rolled-out by mobile operators.
Dave Williams, mmO2’s chief technology officer, said: “This trial allows us to evaluate DVB-H as a potential low-cost delivery mechanism for mobile TV services to complement our planned 3G-based mobile music and video services. As a leading mobile operator in this field, O2 is able to add significant value to the mobile TV proposition, enhancing DVB-H based services whilst also stimulating usage of 3G data services.â€
Terry Howard, head of media business development in ntl’s Broadcast division, said: “This is a commercial trial to test the business case for a mobile TV service in the UK. We’ve performed extensive market research about consumer demand and viewing habits and it looks very positive, but these results need to be validated in a trial environment in conjunction with key players in the industry.
OMA
Also announced today Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Siemens and Sony Ericsson are to co-operate in the Mobile Broadcast Services work, started under Open Mobile Alliance, OMA. The charter of the work is to specify the enablers needed to bring broadcast services to mobile devices and to open up the market for new exciting mobile services and terminals.
A spearhead service of mobile broadcast is mobile phone TV, a way to receive TV-like content to your mobile phone delivered over a mobile broadcast network. In general, mobile broadcast will enable cost efficient mobile mass delivery of any multimedia content. This is believed strongly to increase the consumption of media content using mobile devices. This is expected to drive the demand of new type of broadcast enabled smart phones with colour displays, local memory and applications to consume TV-like and other multimedia content.
Will They Pay
It will be interesting to see the results of this experiment and not just from a technology standpoint. The key to the success of mobile messaging was not push content but that users could exchange information with each other. The danger is that by adopting a broadcast medium approach, operators will follow the same concept as the unsuccessful handheld TV with free to receive content. It's true that mobile services will offer choice but will that be enough for users to actually put their hands in their pockets and pay.
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