Reiter's Mobile TV Report

Russia approves DVB-H mobile TV for Moscow slated for year-end

Muscovites should be able to watch mobile television by the end of this year, based on approvals by the government, reports Broadband TV News (based on an article in Kommersant).

The article says Russia’s State Commission for Radio Frequencies has approved the cellular subsidiaries of three companies  — Sistema, Skartel and Vimpelcom — to offer DVB-H services in the capital.  The operators are conducting trials and will offers eight free mobile TV channels until commercial service is available.

Broadband TV News says the programs will include the main Russian TV channels as well as new youth and children’s channels.  Cellular operators will need approval to add any channel.

But Kommersant reports Sistema has said it prefers to use its regular 3G network rather than DVB-H.

Norway launches "MiniTV" six DMB mobile TV channels in Oslo

Norway has just launched MiniTV (see below) — six mobile television channels in Oslo and surrounding areas — using the DMB protocol, according to the press release.

MiniTV is offered through the Norwegian Mobile TV Corporation (NMTC), which is a joint venture between the three largest broadcasters in the country:  The public broadcaster NRK, TV 2 and the Modern Times Group, the release says.

Currently, the service is free.  However, two of the broadcast companies intend to offer paid channels.  Three of the six channels will remain free through the duration of the NMTC’s license, July 2011. 

The license could renewed if the service is popular.

DMB radio channels

The DMB service also can include 15 radio (DAB) channels.  Other broadcasts, such as traffic reports and video on demand, will be available later this year.

South Korea — where free mobile TV is very popular — has aggressively promoted DMB as a “world” standard, as I’ve noted.  However, popularity doesn’t always translate into profits because the country’s advertiser-supported free DMB is experiencing financial problems.

DMB also is offered in China, Ghana and Italy.  France and The Netherlands will offer service later this year, the release says.

European Commission might license satellite spectrum for mobile TV

The European Commission (EU) might authorize new frequencies for satellite services that could be used for mobile television, says Mobile Today.

The EU will offer 18–year S-band licenses for two European-wide satellite ventures, instead of allocating licenses country-by-country, the article reports.  The Commission is slated to vote on the issue in May.

The licenses don’t have to be used for mobile TV, but that’s one of the potential applications.  Mobile Today says it’s “expected” that the licenses will be awarded to INMARSAT as well as to Solaris, which is a joint venture of SES Astra and Eutelsat.  These two European licensees could partner with other telecommunications operators to provide mobile TV in individual European countries.

Reconfiguring handsets for satellites

The article says S-band frequencies are similar to 3G, so handsets could be reconfigured to receive satellite-based mobile TV.  Phil Kendall, the service director for research firm Strategy Analytics, says cellular operators could offer different services “without doing very much to handsets.”

Perhaps I’m misinterpreting what Kendall meant, but enabling terrestrial–based cellular phones to receive satellite signals requires reworking the phone.  This includes, at a minimum, incorporating another radio chipset (or using a terrestrial + satellite chipset), changing the phone’s antenna and adding new software.

This doesn’t mean it couldn’t or shouldn’t be done.  But it’s not a matter of simply downloading new software to an existing 3G handset.

Also, receiving satellite signals indoors isn’t always an easy task.  Locating GPS signals indoors with a cellular phone sometimes is impossible.  To be fair, I’ve seen a significant increase in the ability of phones to lock onto GPS signal indoors, although it’s far from fail-proof.

Problematical mobile TV in Europe

Mobile TV in Europe has had a checkered past.  It has failed in the U.K., such as Virgin Mobile’s efforts with its horribly-named “Lobster” handset, which I discussed, although it has generated some success in Italy.

Sony to provide full length movies, TV programs to South Korea's SK Telecom

Sony Pictures Television International will provide full length movies and television programs for SK Telecom’s mobile video services in South Korea, according to Variety Asia.

The four-year arrangement calls for Sony to provide at least 50 video-on-demand movies and TV shows, including all three “Spider-Man” movies; an Emmy-nominated TV series, “The Tudors”; “Surf’s Up” and “Kung Fu Hustle,” the article says.  Variety Asia says it’s believed to be the first deal of its kind.

SK Telecom customers will pay 1,000 won ($1.10) to 2,000 won ($2.10) per movie, plus data charges, unless they have subscribed to an unlimited data plan and won’t have to pay for data usage.

Will people watch?

It will be very interesting to see whether significant numbers of SK Telecom subscribers watch full length movies.  Many analysts have a knee-jerk reaction and think the concept is ridiculous. 

But I take a more, uh, intelligent approach and believe it’s based upon the size and quality of the handsets’ screens, any integration with other devices and the country’s culture.

This is not not the first time a cellular operator has offered full length movies for viewing on phones.  In September 2006 Sprint launched “Sprint Movies” that included more than 45 titles from Buena Vista VOD, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures.

The Hollywood Reporter compares Finnish mobile TV issues to the writers' strike

Mark Halper in The Hollywood Reporter has published an interesting article about how the Finnish mobile television market has been delayed by content producers asking for mobile TV-related income.  It’s a lesson Halper says should be heeded during the current Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike.

A French media group, Digita, licensed about a dozen television channels for a mobile TV trial in Finland.  The trial was successful and Digita planned to offer the channels to Finnish cellular operators who would package them to mobile TV subscribers, the article says.

The beta testers were surveyed and said they’d pay $14 per month for the service, The Hollywood Reporter says.  Unfortunately, the companies that licensed the programs for the trial said they didn’t have the rights to license them for commercial mobile TV services.

Long delay

As a result, instead of offering many channels, Digita was could provide only one, a music video channel.  “Things turned so downbeat that Nokia even decided at the time to withhold its broadcast-equipped handset from Finnish stores,” the article says.

The article notes that it wasn’t the writers, per se, that complained.  It was the copyright organizations representing writers as well as actors and musicians, although “the principles are the same” as in the WGA strike.

For Finland, the copyright organizations and the broadcasters are negotiating and Digita expects to offer many more channels.  But that launch isn’t slated until the spring, about a year and a half later than Digita expected, The Hollywood Reporter says.

Heed the lesson

“If CBS, NBC and others really believe they are content companies, they should heed the lesson that Digita provides, but not take 18 months to do so. 

“They should start honoring their content creators with a bigger slice of the action, rather than taking goods from them as if writers were some off-the-shelf provider of an all-in-one tonic,” Halper writes.

AT&T to purchase Aloha's 700 MHz licenses, ramifications for U.S. mobile TV

AT&T today says it is purchasing Aloha Partners’ 700 MHz spectrum — with which Aloha’s Hiwire subsidiary had been testing DVB-H — and has ramifications for the mobile television business in the United States.

AT&T is paying some $2.5 billion to obtain the 700 MHz licenses in channels 54 and 59 that cover some 196 million people in 281 markets, including 72 of the top 100 major markets in the U.S.  The Aloha spectrum purchase is expected to close in six to nine months, pending U.S. regulatory approval.

Just a month ago, Aloha announced it was purchasing 32 licenses in the 700 MHz band from LIN TV, as I wrote.  I assume these licenses also will be included in AT&T’s spectrum purchase.

What will AT&T do?

AT&T isn’t saying what it will do with the spectrum.  It could used exclusively for mobile TV or for a mix of wireless data and voice applications.

In the company’s press release, Forrest Miller, the group president for corporate strategy and development, says, "Customer demand for mobile services, including voice, data and video, is continually increasing.  Aloha's spectrum will enable AT&T to efficiently meet this growing demand and help our customers stay connected to their worlds."

U.S. mobile TV technologies

The mobile TV landscape in the U.S. looks like this, so far:

*  Verizon Wireless is already using Qualcomm’s MediaFLO for streaming mobile TV,

*  AT&T/Cingular offers on-demand mobile TV and has said it will offer MediaFLO by the end of this year,

*  Sprint uses its 3G network for everything from live streaming mobile TV to on-demand videos, and says it will use WiMAX (if the company’s new CEO decides to build it) for mobile TV, among other applications, and

*  T-Mobile hasn’t yet launched its 3G network and doesn’t offer mobile TV.

T-Mobile as DVB-H hope?

Hiwire has been testing DVB-H in conjunction with T-Mobile in Las Vegas, as I previously wrote.  And Crown Castle had been testing its Modeo mobile TV service in New York until it decided to lease its spectrum in the 1600 MHz band.

So, if AT&T decides to continue its mobile TV launch with MediaFLO and Sprint supplements its 3G mobile TV with WiMAX, the only Big Four cellular operator that could possibly offer DVB-H is T-Mobile.

Alltel Wireless offers a variety of mobile TV channels.  It’s a CDMA cellular operator and is unlikely, I believe, to offer DVB-H.

Nokia very concerned about U.K. government's lack of commitment to mobile TV

Mark Selby, the vice president of multimedia at Nokia, is “very worried” about the lack of commitment of the British government towards mobile television, according to an article in “Rapid TV News.”

Speaking at the Rapid TV Conferences’ Broadcasting 2017 conference in London, Selby asked:  “What if mobile TV takes off everywhere except here, and we in Britain suffer a five year or more time lag?”  Selby was critical of the government’s lack of spectrum allocation.

A presentation by Ofcom, the U.K.’s Office of Communications, noted that there are different mobile TV options for cellular operators, including using their existing 3G spectrum and L-band frequencies.  Selby says about using 3G frequencies, “We [the industry] do not believe that is the way to go.”

L-band problems

Regarding the L-band, he says, “we know from trials that to get a signal into homes and buildings using L-Band would make the cost of building the network significantly higher than elsewhere, where generally UHF has been selected.  In fact UHF in the shape of Channel 36 is available almost now, or will be wholly vacated in early 2009.

“We know it will take about three years to build out a network to deliver services to 93 percent of the population.”

As a result of the Ofcom’s policies, cellular operators aren’t looking at frequencies until 2009 — after many other countries already have implemented broadcast mobile TV networks.  “These delays place the UK in a very precarious position,” Selby says.

Problems for London Olympics mobile TV

The 2009 timeframe for the allocation also could cause problems for offering mobile TV during the 2012 London Olympics, he says.  “Even if the network starts building the day after spectrum is awarded — which is unlikely — then we can expect there will be many British regions without signal.

“If you live in Paris you can view the games [on mobile TV].  In Vietnam, hardly the most developed nation on the planet, you’ll be able to watch on mobile, and in Albania.  Same in Delhi, Singapore and Lagos, Nigeria.  But not in Manchester.

“This is a ludicrous situation.  The impact on the creative economy could be considerable.”

Nokia’s interest

Of course Nokia isn’t a disinterested party.  The company promotes DVB-H mobile TV technology, such as through its Mobile TV Forum Web site, and sells the handsets and infrastructure equipment.

Nokia’s corporate interests notwithstanding, there’s no doubt that major sporting events have helped spark the growth of mobile TV subscribers.  I’d be shocked if the London Olympics didn’t generate more mobile TV subscribers who would watch events in real time as well as with delayed, on-demand video clips.

So it certainly is in the interest of cellular operators and handset vendors to help ensure mobile TV coverage is available across the U.K. in time for Olympics.

Aloha Partners purchases 32 700 MHz licenses from LIN TV for mobile TV

Aloha Partners, the parent company of HiWire, is purchasing 32 700 MHz licenses from LIN TV for $32.5 million for mobile television applications, according to the press release.

LIN’s 700 MHz licenses are located in the northeast, upper midwest and south central Texas.

As a result of the purchase, Aloha says it will hold more than 270 700 MHz licenses — the largest number in the United States — that would cover almost 65 percent of the country’s population and almost 85 percent of the top 100 markets, the company says.  The deal is slated to close this quarter, pending approval by the Federal Communications Commission.

Testing, testing

Aloha has been testing 700 MHz frequencies for mobile TV and wireless broadband in Phoenix and mobile TV in Las Vegas, the release says.  The Las Vegas tests, in conjunction with T-Mobile, employ the DVB-H protocol.

Aloha hasn’t announced any deals with cellular operators to commercially offer mobile TV.

So far, only Qualcomm’s MediaFLO protocol is used for broadcast mobile TV in the U.S.  Verizon Wireless uses MediaFLO for its V CAST Mobile TV service, and AT&T/Cingular is supposedly going to launch MediaFLO this year.  Sprint uses its existing cellular network frequencies for mobile TV and is expected to offer broadcast mobile TV over a WiMAX network next year.

T-Mobile’s decision

T-Mobile doesn’t offer any mobile TV because it hasn’t yet implemented any commercially available 3G network.  T-Mobile could possibly launch its 3G service by the end of this year. 

The cellular operator hasn’t announced what mobile TV protocol it will employ — whenever it decides to offer the service.

French broadcasters, cellular operators ponder free versus paid mobile TV

French media companies and cellular operators are debating whether to offer mobile television that’s free, paid or a combination thereof, says an item in TelecomPaper from Les Echos.

The article (“Television sur mobile: partisans des modeles payant et gratuit s’affrontent”) says French media companies BFM, Bollore, Lagardere and NRJ want to offer free service.  The cellular operators want to offer (surprise, surprise) paid mobile TV for perhaps 5 euros ($6.73) to 15 euros ($20.21) per month.

French cellular operators Bouygues Telecom and Orange want paid mobile TV, the article said.

TelecomPaper says French broadcasters want a combination of free and paid, while Sony has indicated it would like free subscriptions.

Mobile TV licenses

France’s broadcasting regulatory authority CSA (Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel) is slated to issue license requests in October.  CSA says most of the companies that responded to requests for information about mobile TV said they would like at least some paid components. 

Companies also are pondering whether advertising could be used to provide free or less expensive mobile TV services.

European Commission offers simpler applications for mobile TV licenses

The European Commission has announced simpler procedures for obtaining mobile television and satellite licenses in Europe, according to an article in Variety.  The EU Parliament and country governments have to approve the procedures.

Licenses would be solicited in 2008 for service in 2009, the article says.

In general terms, license applications have to include such information as coverage, benefits, spectrum efficiency and “fulfillment of public policy objectives.”

Variety reports, “However, the new system is not without its flaws.  Although selection would be at the pan European Union level, successful bidders would still need licenses from all the national authorities covered.  Fees would continue to vary from country to country.”