Fragmentation of mobile TV standards here to stay… 

The fragmentation of standards that is evident in the nascent mobile TV market is here to stay according to recent research from In-Stat. In digital mobile TV broadcasting, several standards are being used, several mainly in one country, and that situation is likely to continue in the future, according to the In-Stat analysis ‘Worldwide Mobile TV Broadcasting: Analog a Viable Option’.

Other takeaways from the In-Stat research include:
·         The most popular mobile TV broadcast services are those that are offered without a subscription, as in Japan and South Korea . However, mobile TV broadcast services are viewed by many as a way to generate revenue, so many of the mobile TV broadcast services will be subscription-based.
·         DVB-H is the most widely used digital mobile TV broadcast standard, in terms of number of operators having launched services.
·         Analogue mobile TV broadcast viewers will outpace mobile Digital TV (DTV) broadcast viewers and subscribers in 2009.
·         Worldwide mobile TV broadcast subscription revenue will reach US$12 bn in 2012.

Meantime, adding to the fragmentary nature of mobile TV standardisation (at least in the USA ) a collection of 800-plus commercial and public broadcasters is reporting progress in trials with mobile DTV. The Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC) has announced that the US broadcasting industry is on track to develop standards and launch services for mobile DTV in 2009. The group states that recent Independent Demonstration of Viability (IDoV) trials showed that DTV-based mobile video technologies are feasible.

“We are on schedule for the 2009 rollout of commercial mobile DTV,” says Brandon Burgess, president of the OMVC and ceo of ION Media Networks. “The mobile field trials are an important milestone in setting a standard for this incredibly promising technology, and our industry is pulling together in an unprecedented way to realise the promise for broadcasters and American consumers.”

OMVC members believe they are better placed than mobile operators to make a success of mobile TV because they have the much of the networks and the content in place.

In conjunction with the Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV), the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), the OMVC has been conducting field trials in March and April of 2008 in the San Francisco Bay Area and Las Vegas , examining three different systems to add to the acronym spaghetti that is mobile TV standardisation. These are: the Mobile-Pedestrian-Handheld (MPH) system jointly developed by LG Electronics and Harris Corporation; the A-VSB system jointly developed by Samsung Electronics and Rohde & Schwarz; and a third system jointly developed by Thomson and Micronas (T/M).

Reported findings so far include: both high VHF and UHF mobile reception works at pedestrian and highway speeds; mobile reception can be achieved as far as 40 miles from the transmitter; and none of the systems interfere with normal digital broadcasting.

“We are laser-focused on finalising a technology standard for mobile DTV, and working with technology companies and service operators to launch services beginning next year,” states Anne Schelle, executive director, OMVC.

But with growing indications from the cell phone community that mobile TV is likely to be a slow burn, some are wondering whether the gung-ho approach of these broadcasters is really justified.
John Williamson