Mobile TV retrospective 2005 - 2008

Mobile TV December 24, 2005

Mobile TV has particular appeal to many industry players because it holds out the promise of taking the western hemisphere back towards competition on function and service rather than on price. Many companies are becoming tired of fighting for market share in a market where the margins have become water thin.

Helge: What is the outlook for mobile tv 2.3.2008? This project sounded very futuristic 2005 but I don't think about it with the same passion today. We need bigger screens. The mobile devices have to become bigger. I'd like to see pocket book size screens on mobile devices. It's important for me personally while I need a portable device with an ergonomic keyboard.

1. Stockholm, Sweden — In a country where cell phone market penetration exceeds 110 percent and 3G networks already cover 98 percent of the geography, you'd think delivery of TV to consumer handsets would be a pushover.
   
   Helge: We started this week to use a megabyte 3G network for mobile Internet connection.
   
   
2. However, such an assumption fails to take into account both the logistics and the politics of mobile TV in Sweden, where broadcasters are pitted against mobile operators, the technology landscape is a battle of the titans (Ericsson vs. Nokia) and regulators face huge pressure to revise — or not to revise — their plans for the digital TV spectrum.
   In short, it's a mess.
   
   Helge: The evolution of visual radio is still in the middle of a fog. The technical problems are probably partly solved. The big work is to negotiate copyright issues. This is true in Finland and Sweden.
   
   
3. Sweden thus far has made no regulatory decisions on spectrum allocations for mobile-TV broadcast. There is no consensus on standards, and no viable business models have been worked out.
   
   Helge: Business models? Pay per view? Subscription?
   
   
4. Sweden's dilemma stands in sharp contrast to several countries where leading network operators — or the government — have already settled on their technology choices for mobile-TV broadcast, with some service providers taking active roles in the testing of both technology and business models.
   
   Helge: Ok.
   
   
5. South Korea, for example, last week launched the world's first commercial mobile-TV, -radio and -multimedia services based on the Digital Multimedia Broadcasting standard, which is part of the Digital Audio Broadcast platform.
   
   Helge: Japan, Korea, Asia are taking a lead...
   
   
6. Finland, whose government has settled on Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H) for mobile-TV broadcasting on its UHF spectrum, last week closed the initial deadline for applicants offering mobile-TV service. Four candidates have emerged.
   
   Helge: Nokia's strong presence is evident. But the market is small.