Yesterday's announcement that AT&T had agreed to purchase $2.5 billion in 700 MHz spectrum from privately-held Aloha Partners, parent firm of DVB-H proponent Hiwire, seemed to signal the end of DVB-H in the United States. Hiwire was the only remaining U.S. DVB-H player after Crown Castle International announced earlier this year that it was planning to spin off its Modeo business and exit the market. Hiwire was planning to use that 700 MHz spectrum to deploy a nationwide mobile TV network and this summer it launched a DVB-H trial in Las Vegas with partner T-Mobile USA.
But AT&T didn't just buy the 700 MHz spectrum from Aloha, it also purchased the Hiwire assets. I spoke with Scott Wills, president and COO of Hiwire, this morning and he said that those assets include the tower sites and the infrastructure equipment as well as access to the entire DVB-H ecosystem. He added that the current DVB-H trial in Las Vegas with T-Mobile USA will continue through the end of the year.
Wills wouldn't comment on the implications of this deal and AT&T has said that it's not sure how it will use the spectrum. But I think it's entirely possible that the operator will use that spectrum to deploy a DVB-H network and launch its own mobile TV service.
I know that AT&T is currently working with Qualcomm's MediaFLO subsidiary to launch a mobile broadcast TV service this year, but I've always felt that the alliance between those two parties was made because AT&T felt pressure from Verizon's broadcast TV offering (using MediaFLO) and the company felt the existing DVB-H players (Medio and Hiwire) were not progressing as quickly as AT&T desired.
But there's nothing stopping AT&T from using MediaFLO technology as a stopgap measure until the company can deploy its own DVB-H network using the spectrum it just purchased from Aloha.
I think there are some very compelling reasons for this strategy. AT&T could deploy a DVB-H network, offer more channels of programming than Verizon (Hiwire can offer 24 channels of programming while MediaFLO can offer just eight) and negotiate some interesting content deals that provide customers with programming whether it's over AT&T's U-Verse IPTV system, over AT&T's broadband network or over its DVB-H network. Doesn't this scenario fit with AT&T's three-screen philosophy? I think it does.
By Sue Marek
Source: http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/dvb-h-may-not-be-dead-yet/2007-10-10
Sunday, November 25, 2007
DVB-H puts TV on mobiles
As if phones didn't already have enough features, within the next few years, the mobile industry is going to add another major one: broadcast TV. The service will be consumer-led, but could there be other applications for business?
The leading standard for mobile TV, DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handhelds), has emerged from Nokia and been standardised by the European standards group ETSI, as EN 302 304.
DVB-H means building a new radio receiver into the handset, tuned to whatever spectrum is going to be used for mobile video broadcasting. It sends 15 Mbit/s of data per 8MHz channel, and adds error correction to compensate for possible poor reception.
Nokia has created DVB-H handsets - basically its 7710 device with an add-on radio module. Integrated DVB-H devices are due next year. Other handset makers including Samsung have prototypes and are expected to follow suit.
At first DVB-H will only be in expensive handsets. As time passes, it will become cheaper, until the DVB-H capability costs as little as adding an FM radio receiver.
Mainly for consumers
DVB-H trials, in Helsinki, Oxford and about fifteen other places, have focussed on consumer services, in which users pay between €5 and €15 for up to 20 TV channels.
In the US, Pittsburgh has a trial service provided by Crown Castle, which has a nationwide licence for spectrum at 1.5GHz.
Mobile phones bring several benefits for a service like mobile TV. Firstly, they are in users' pockets already, so vendors don't have to sell a whole new device. Secondly, they can use the cellular network as a communications channel for services like interactive TV. And finally, because users are already paying a mobile bill, it is easy to bill them for extra services, and users will (operators hope) be willing to pay to see TV on their mobile.
Alternatively, some services may be free-to-air, supported by adverts. The broadcast and mobile industries will be jockeying for position as they get together in this new example of convergence.
What about the spectrum?
There are currently no bands set aside for DVB-H broadcasting. However, in the short term, the technology is similar enough to DAB (digital audio broadcasting) to use DAB bands. In the long term, the bandwidth dividend when analogue TV broadcasts are shut down (around 2012) will provide more than enough spectrum for broadcast to mobiles.
As operators scent money, licences for spectrum that can be used for DVB-H may be auctioned, and prices could be high. However, the UK is unlikely to see a repeat of the "3G auction" of 2000, for at least one reason. Ofcom has become technology neutral, and will want to sell spectrum without requiring any particular use.
Any competition?
Mobile phone users can already see TV programs on their handsets if they want to. For instance, Orange's MobiTV system broadcasts CNN and ITV news over the 3G network, to users with the Nokia 6680 handset.
However, using a two-way data network for broadcast data is wasteful and does not scale well. MobiTV is on a free trial at the moment, but the actual cost will be €15, for a limited time (24 hours viewing per week).
Other competition includes Qualcomm's MediaFlo, which the company is hoping to get off the ground.
In Korea, services exist using DMB (digital multimedia broadcast) and there are proposals for S-DMB (satellite digital multimedia broadcast), which would use a terrestrial repeater network to relay signals from satellites. DVB-H promoters label DMB as being too close to DAB. Designed for video, DVB-H gives more data per channel, say its backers.
Any other applications?
Broadcasting to handsets could be very useful for information such as traffic and weather reports, or even warnings and emergency information.
Like other broadcast services, it may also be possible to piggyback other data on it, perhaps including software upgrades for mobile devices, or updates to customer or product databases in devices carried by mobile workers.
Business impact – negative
Overall, however, the impact on business productivity is likely to be negative, as consumer services will eat into work time that employers have started to expect from mobile employees.
DVB-H is intended as a way to get users to consume more media content, at times when they are away from home. "The commute to work work will be a new prime time," says Markus Lindqvist, of Nokia Ventures Organisation.
TV content aimed directly at people trapped in trains might make them less inclined to pull out their laptops and work on their way home.
Source: http://www.techworld.com/mobility/features/index.cfm?featureid=1614
DVB-H puts TV on mobiles
As if phones didn't already have enough features, within the next few years, the mobile industry is going to add another major one: broadcast TV. The service will be consumer-led, but could there be other applications for business?
The leading standard for mobile TV, DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handhelds), has emerged from Nokia and been standardised by the European standards group ETSI, as EN 302 304.
DVB-H means building a new radio receiver into the handset, tuned to whatever spectrum is going to be used for mobile video broadcasting. It sends 15 Mbit/s of data per 8MHz channel, and adds error correction to compensate for possible poor reception.
Nokia has created DVB-H handsets - basically its 7710 device with an add-on radio module. Integrated DVB-H devices are due next year. Other handset makers including Samsung have prototypes and are expected to follow suit.
At first DVB-H will only be in expensive handsets. As time passes, it will become cheaper, until the DVB-H capability costs as little as adding an FM radio receiver.
Mainly for consumers
DVB-H trials, in Helsinki, Oxford and about fifteen other places, have focussed on consumer services, in which users pay between €5 and €15 for up to 20 TV channels.
In the US, Pittsburgh has a trial service provided by Crown Castle, which has a nationwide licence for spectrum at 1.5GHz.
Mobile phones bring several benefits for a service like mobile TV. Firstly, they are in users' pockets already, so vendors don't have to sell a whole new device. Secondly, they can use the cellular network as a communications channel for services like interactive TV. And finally, because users are already paying a mobile bill, it is easy to bill them for extra services, and users will (operators hope) be willing to pay to see TV on their mobile.
Alternatively, some services may be free-to-air, supported by adverts. The broadcast and mobile industries will be jockeying for position as they get together in this new example of convergence.
What about the spectrum?
There are currently no bands set aside for DVB-H broadcasting. However, in the short term, the technology is similar enough to DAB (digital audio broadcasting) to use DAB bands. In the long term, the bandwidth dividend when analogue TV broadcasts are shut down (around 2012) will provide more than enough spectrum for broadcast to mobiles.
As operators scent money, licences for spectrum that can be used for DVB-H may be auctioned, and prices could be high. However, the UK is unlikely to see a repeat of the "3G auction" of 2000, for at least one reason. Ofcom has become technology neutral, and will want to sell spectrum without requiring any particular use.
Any competition?
Mobile phone users can already see TV programs on their handsets if they want to. For instance, Orange's MobiTV system broadcasts CNN and ITV news over the 3G network, to users with the Nokia 6680 handset.
However, using a two-way data network for broadcast data is wasteful and does not scale well. MobiTV is on a free trial at the moment, but the actual cost will be €15, for a limited time (24 hours viewing per week).
Other competition includes Qualcomm's MediaFlo, which the company is hoping to get off the ground.
In Korea, services exist using DMB (digital multimedia broadcast) and there are proposals for S-DMB (satellite digital multimedia broadcast), which would use a terrestrial repeater network to relay signals from satellites. DVB-H promoters label DMB as being too close to DAB. Designed for video, DVB-H gives more data per channel, say its backers.
Any other applications?
Broadcasting to handsets could be very useful for information such as traffic and weather reports, or even warnings and emergency information.
Like other broadcast services, it may also be possible to piggyback other data on it, perhaps including software upgrades for mobile devices, or updates to customer or product databases in devices carried by mobile workers.
Business impact – negative
Overall, however, the impact on business productivity is likely to be negative, as consumer services will eat into work time that employers have started to expect from mobile employees.
DVB-H is intended as a way to get users to consume more media content, at times when they are away from home. "The commute to work work will be a new prime time," says Markus Lindqvist, of Nokia Ventures Organisation.
TV content aimed directly at people trapped in trains might make them less inclined to pull out their laptops and work on their way home.
Source: http://www.techworld.com/mobility/features/index.cfm?featureid=1614
Samsung, Nokia Support Mobile TV Services Launch
Samsung and Nokia are going to work together to achieve interoperability amongst their DVB-H (digital video broadcast - handheld)-enabled mobile devices and the open standards-based Nokia network services system. The handset manufacturers will work together to support solutions based on the open OMA BCAST standard available for operator partners interested in deploying multi-vendor mobile TV services and trials in 2007 and onwards.
The deployment of mobile TV services will offer new business opportunities for companies across the value chain, including content and broadcast companies, mobile service providers, infrastructure and handset manufacturers, and technology providers. DVB-H technology offers high-service level quality, low battery consumption, and offers the end-user the ability to simultaneously receive broadcasts while using other mobile services such as telephony and internet access on their device.
"Within DVB-H technology, Samsung has already commercialised handsets based on the CBMS OSF standard and will develop the OMA BCAST standard based mobile TV handset. Its inclusion in our product portfolios will enhance our customers' flexibility in choosing suitable standards based on their business models," says Kwang Suk Hyun, senior vice president, alliance team, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
"Nokia warmly welcomes the collaboration in accelerating the adoption of DVB-H-based mobile TV services to the market. We see that the OMA BCAST standard is essential in launching mobile TV services on a global scale," says Harri Männistö, director, multimedia, Nokia. "Further, the well-defined service and content protection profiles within the OMA BCAST standard such as the already now available OMA DRM, provides the ideal path towards standardised solutions enabling a coherent and open market for successful worldwide mobile TV deployments."
In parallel to supporting mobile operators launching mobile TV services based on existing technologies in their networks, Samsung and Nokia are both active in ongoing standardisation and technology development to optimise the broadcast mobile TV experience. The companies will work on interoperability efforts using the open OMA standard while continuing to participate in industry-wide interoperability efforts within the related standardisation bodies.
The deployment of mobile TV services will offer new business opportunities for companies across the value chain, including content and broadcast companies, mobile service providers, infrastructure and handset manufacturers, and technology providers. DVB-H technology offers high-service level quality, low battery consumption, and offers the end-user the ability to simultaneously receive broadcasts while using other mobile services such as telephony and internet access on their device.
"Within DVB-H technology, Samsung has already commercialised handsets based on the CBMS OSF standard and will develop the OMA BCAST standard based mobile TV handset. Its inclusion in our product portfolios will enhance our customers' flexibility in choosing suitable standards based on their business models," says Kwang Suk Hyun, senior vice president, alliance team, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
"Nokia warmly welcomes the collaboration in accelerating the adoption of DVB-H-based mobile TV services to the market. We see that the OMA BCAST standard is essential in launching mobile TV services on a global scale," says Harri Männistö, director, multimedia, Nokia. "Further, the well-defined service and content protection profiles within the OMA BCAST standard such as the already now available OMA DRM, provides the ideal path towards standardised solutions enabling a coherent and open market for successful worldwide mobile TV deployments."
In parallel to supporting mobile operators launching mobile TV services based on existing technologies in their networks, Samsung and Nokia are both active in ongoing standardisation and technology development to optimise the broadcast mobile TV experience. The companies will work on interoperability efforts using the open OMA standard while continuing to participate in industry-wide interoperability efforts within the related standardisation bodies.
Samsung, Nokia Support Mobile TV Services Launch
Using DVB-H technology which deploys broadcast mobile TV amongst the many digital technologies available to deliver mobile TV services.
Samsung and Nokia are going to work together to achieve interoperability amongst their DVB-H (digital video broadcast - handheld)-enabled mobile devices and the open standards-based Nokia network services system. The handset manufacturers will work together to support solutions based on the open OMA BCAST standard available for operator partners interested in deploying multi-vendor mobile TV services and trials in 2007 and onwards.
The deployment of mobile TV services will offer new business opportunities for companies across the value chain, including content and broadcast companies, mobile service providers, infrastructure and handset manufacturers, and technology providers. DVB-H technology offers high-service level quality, low battery consumption, and offers the end-user the ability to simultaneously receive broadcasts while using other mobile services such as telephony and internet access on their device.
"Within DVB-H technology, Samsung has already commercialised handsets based on the CBMS OSF standard and will develop the OMA BCAST standard based mobile TV handset. Its inclusion in our product portfolios will enhance our customers' flexibility in choosing suitable standards based on their business models," says Kwang Suk Hyun, senior vice president, alliance team, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
"Nokia warmly welcomes the collaboration in accelerating the adoption of DVB-H-based mobile TV services to the market. We see that the OMA BCAST standard is essential in launching mobile TV services on a global scale," says Harri Männistö, director, multimedia, Nokia. "Further, the well-defined service and content protection profiles within the OMA BCAST standard such as the already now available OMA DRM, provides the ideal path towards standardised solutions enabling a coherent and open market for successful worldwide mobile TV deployments."
In parallel to supporting mobile operators launching mobile TV services based on existing technologies in their networks, Samsung and Nokia are both active in ongoing standardisation and technology development to optimise the broadcast mobile TV experience. The companies will work on interoperability efforts using the open OMA standard while continuing to participate in industry-wide interoperability efforts within the related standardisation bodies.
Source: http://www.efytimes.com/efytimes/fullnews.asp?edid=18324
Samsung and Nokia are going to work together to achieve interoperability amongst their DVB-H (digital video broadcast - handheld)-enabled mobile devices and the open standards-based Nokia network services system. The handset manufacturers will work together to support solutions based on the open OMA BCAST standard available for operator partners interested in deploying multi-vendor mobile TV services and trials in 2007 and onwards.
The deployment of mobile TV services will offer new business opportunities for companies across the value chain, including content and broadcast companies, mobile service providers, infrastructure and handset manufacturers, and technology providers. DVB-H technology offers high-service level quality, low battery consumption, and offers the end-user the ability to simultaneously receive broadcasts while using other mobile services such as telephony and internet access on their device.
"Within DVB-H technology, Samsung has already commercialised handsets based on the CBMS OSF standard and will develop the OMA BCAST standard based mobile TV handset. Its inclusion in our product portfolios will enhance our customers' flexibility in choosing suitable standards based on their business models," says Kwang Suk Hyun, senior vice president, alliance team, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
"Nokia warmly welcomes the collaboration in accelerating the adoption of DVB-H-based mobile TV services to the market. We see that the OMA BCAST standard is essential in launching mobile TV services on a global scale," says Harri Männistö, director, multimedia, Nokia. "Further, the well-defined service and content protection profiles within the OMA BCAST standard such as the already now available OMA DRM, provides the ideal path towards standardised solutions enabling a coherent and open market for successful worldwide mobile TV deployments."
In parallel to supporting mobile operators launching mobile TV services based on existing technologies in their networks, Samsung and Nokia are both active in ongoing standardisation and technology development to optimise the broadcast mobile TV experience. The companies will work on interoperability efforts using the open OMA standard while continuing to participate in industry-wide interoperability efforts within the related standardisation bodies.
Source: http://www.efytimes.com/efytimes/fullnews.asp?edid=18324
Commission opens Europe's Single Market for Mobile TV services
The Commission has adopted a strategy favouring the take-up of mobile TV across the 27 EU Member States. The Commission urges Member States and industry to facilitate and accelerate the deployment of mobile TV across Europe and to encourage the use of DVB-H as the single European standard for mobile TV.
"Mobile broadcasting is a tremendous opportunity for Europe to maintain and expand its leadership in mobile technology and audiovisual services," said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for the Information Society and Media. "Europe is today at a crossroads. We can either take the lead globally – as we did for mobile telephony based on the GSM standard developed by the European industry – or allow other regions take the lion's share of the promising mobile TV market. 'Wait-and-see' is not an option. The time has come for Europe's industry and governments to switch on to mobile TV."
Until now, the introduction and take-up of mobile TV in the EU has been slow while Europe's competitors have progressed significantly. Unless Europe takes concrete action immediately, it risks losing its competitive edge. For example, the mobile TV penetration rate of South Korea, Asia's most developed mobile TV market, is close to 10%. Yet penetration in Italy, the EU's most advanced market, is still less than 1%.
The Commission is strongly committed to the success of mobile TV (see IP/07/340) which could be a market of up to €20 billion by 2011, reaching some 500 million customers worldwide. The Commission sees today's Communication on Strengthening the Internal Market for Mobile TV as crucial to create jobs and business opportunities for content creators, service providers and hardware manufacturers, and to bring new value-added services to citizens.
Three key success factors have been identified by the Commission for mobile TV take-up:
1) Standards/interoperability: The Commission will promote consensus around a common standard, to reduce market fragmentation caused by multiple technical options for mobile TV transmission. The universal success of the GSM standard – which had been strongly supported by the Commission and Member States at the end of the 1980s – proves the benefit of a common standard. Currently, DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting for Handhelds) technology is the strongest contender for future mobile TV, with successful commercial launches and trials in 18 European countries, and increasingly worldwide. The Commission will therefore in the weeks to come prepare the inclusion of DVB-H in the EU's official list of standards (published in the EU's Official Journal) and will thereby legally encourage its use in all 27 Member States. It will look closely at market developments over the next months and come with proposals in 2008 including, if necessary and appropriate, mandating the use of DVB-H.
2) Spectrum: Today's Communication outlines the need of an EU strategy for the "digital dividend", the premium spectrum that will be freed up by the switch-off from traditional analogue to digital TV broadcasting. The Commission calls upon Member States to make spectrum available for mobile broadcasting as quickly as possible, including in the UHF band (470-862 MHz) as it becomes available. This is considered the most suitable spectrum for mobile multimedia services due to its technical characteristics. The Commission has also initiated the opening to mobile TV services of another frequency band, the so-called L-band (1452-1492 MHz) as a fallback solution.
3) A favourable regulatory environment: National approaches to regulating mobile TV vary considerably at the moment. This generates regulatory uncertainty across the EU. The Commission considers that mobile TV is a nascent service and as such should benefit from "light touch" regulation. It will organise an exchange of best practice and provide guidance for a coherent framework for mobile TV authorisation regimes.
2008 is considered by the Commission as a crucial year for mobile TV take-up in the EU due to important sports events, such as the European Football Championship and the Summer Olympic Games, which will provide a unique opportunity for raising consumers' awareness and for the adoption of new services.
Source: http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1118&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
2007: The year of mobile TV
(Business 2.0 Magazine) -- Will 2007 be the year American consumers can finally watch live football wherever and however they want? Judging by the onslaught of mobile TV-related announcements and demos (the majority of which made reference to the current football season) at this week's Consumer Electronics Show, the answer is a resounding "Yes."
But just how much will even the most hard-core football fans - or even just your average TV addict - be willing to pay to carry their content with them wherever they go?
One of the biggest CES announcements, made last Sunday, was that Verizon Wireless (Charts) would soon launch live, full-length television programming, including hits such as Fox's "24" and Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" on cell phones. Verizon's calling the service, powered by Qualcomm's MediaFLO technology, V Cast Mobile TV.
This $310,000 phone blings, then rings
The company won't say just how much they will charge for the new offering, but subscribers to Verizon's current V Cast service, which offers access to videos and music, already pay $15 a month, on top of the price of a voice plan. And it's not clear just how much more they'd be willing to shell out.
"You've got a bit of a disconnect between the current pricing of these services and the fact that this is still an early phase in the market, and there is somewhat of an unwillingness to pay up on the consumers' end," says Linda Barrabee, an analyst with the Yankee Group. "The mobile market is still primarily about voice, then messaging."
According to Barrabee, an estimated 5.3 million wireless users - a mere 2.5 percent of total subscribers - currently subscribe to video services. Of course, that number will probably grow, but just how much will depend on what mobile TV services cost and how easy they are to use.
"It all comes down to form factor and price point," Barrabee says. "Unless it's easy for the consumer to use, mobile TV will continue to be an experience for early adopters only."
But companies like Verizon are hoping to reach far beyond the early adopters.
One way they may be able to do that, says Barrabee, is by letting subscribers test a service before they commit, and by offering them several ways to pay up.
Verizon's already done that by recently launching pay-by-the-day access to V Cast videos and music. The service costs just $3 a day, and users don't have to commit beyond a single day. This approach could work especially well with the youth market - the type of TV-loving, yet cost-conscious customers that V Cast Mobile TV is likely to attract.
YouTube goes 'moblogging'
Another way around the pricing problem is an ad-supported, or at least partially ad-funded, model. That could be what mobile television service provider MobiTV has in mind: Monday at CES, the Emeryville, Calif. based company announced it will soon add an interactive advertising component to its mobile television technology, which powers the mobile TV services for Sprint Nextel (Charts) and Cingular Wireless (Charts).
MobiTV will enable advertisers to send out promotional coupons, WAP-based surveys and contests, and deliver localized ads based on users' zip codes. The company says it currently has over one million paying users. And if advertisers start snapping up interactive ad space on MobiTV's service, that could provide Sprint and Cingular some additional revenues, lowering mobile TV subscription fees for users.
Samsung also jumped on the mobile TV bandwagon at CES, announcing on Sunday its new mobile television standard, dubbed A-VSB. The Korea-based company says that the new technology will enable local broadcasters to transmit a mobile digital TV signal on the same frequency they now use for standard broadcasting, meaning they won't have to buy up additional spectrum.
By transmitting the signal that way, consumers will be able to watch live, local broadcasting on any A-VSB compatible mobile devices (which Samsung intends to sell soon as the new standard is adopted), even while traveling at high speeds.
"You could say we're liberating the couch potato," said John Godfrey, vice president of government and public affairs at Samsung, moments after the company unveiled the new technology in Las Vegas.
But just how badly does the couch potato want to be liberated? And at what price?
AT&T and Verizon: Wireless at heart
In places like Korea, where Samsung is based and where mobile TV has already taken off, nearly 14 percent cell phones support Digital Mobile Broadcast television, according to ABI Research. That's a high number, compared to most other countries, except maybe Japan.
But ABI Research expects mobile TV will be someday be a cash cow globally as well. According to the firm's forecasts, there will be half a billion mobile video subscribers by 2011. What was a $50 million industry back in 2005 will be worth several hundred billion dollars by 2011. And ABI believes advertising revenues from broadcast mobile video will dwarf subscription revenues from these services.
If Korea is any example, then mobile TV just might become the booming business ABI Research projects it will be. After all, we are a nation of TV addicts.
by Michal Lev-Ram, Business 2.0 Magazine writer-reporter
Source: http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/10/magazines/business2/cesmobiletv.biz2/index.htm
But just how much will even the most hard-core football fans - or even just your average TV addict - be willing to pay to carry their content with them wherever they go?
One of the biggest CES announcements, made last Sunday, was that Verizon Wireless (Charts) would soon launch live, full-length television programming, including hits such as Fox's "24" and Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" on cell phones. Verizon's calling the service, powered by Qualcomm's MediaFLO technology, V Cast Mobile TV.
This $310,000 phone blings, then rings
The company won't say just how much they will charge for the new offering, but subscribers to Verizon's current V Cast service, which offers access to videos and music, already pay $15 a month, on top of the price of a voice plan. And it's not clear just how much more they'd be willing to shell out.
"You've got a bit of a disconnect between the current pricing of these services and the fact that this is still an early phase in the market, and there is somewhat of an unwillingness to pay up on the consumers' end," says Linda Barrabee, an analyst with the Yankee Group. "The mobile market is still primarily about voice, then messaging."
According to Barrabee, an estimated 5.3 million wireless users - a mere 2.5 percent of total subscribers - currently subscribe to video services. Of course, that number will probably grow, but just how much will depend on what mobile TV services cost and how easy they are to use.
"It all comes down to form factor and price point," Barrabee says. "Unless it's easy for the consumer to use, mobile TV will continue to be an experience for early adopters only."
But companies like Verizon are hoping to reach far beyond the early adopters.
One way they may be able to do that, says Barrabee, is by letting subscribers test a service before they commit, and by offering them several ways to pay up.
Verizon's already done that by recently launching pay-by-the-day access to V Cast videos and music. The service costs just $3 a day, and users don't have to commit beyond a single day. This approach could work especially well with the youth market - the type of TV-loving, yet cost-conscious customers that V Cast Mobile TV is likely to attract.
YouTube goes 'moblogging'
Another way around the pricing problem is an ad-supported, or at least partially ad-funded, model. That could be what mobile television service provider MobiTV has in mind: Monday at CES, the Emeryville, Calif. based company announced it will soon add an interactive advertising component to its mobile television technology, which powers the mobile TV services for Sprint Nextel (Charts) and Cingular Wireless (Charts).
MobiTV will enable advertisers to send out promotional coupons, WAP-based surveys and contests, and deliver localized ads based on users' zip codes. The company says it currently has over one million paying users. And if advertisers start snapping up interactive ad space on MobiTV's service, that could provide Sprint and Cingular some additional revenues, lowering mobile TV subscription fees for users.
Samsung also jumped on the mobile TV bandwagon at CES, announcing on Sunday its new mobile television standard, dubbed A-VSB. The Korea-based company says that the new technology will enable local broadcasters to transmit a mobile digital TV signal on the same frequency they now use for standard broadcasting, meaning they won't have to buy up additional spectrum.
By transmitting the signal that way, consumers will be able to watch live, local broadcasting on any A-VSB compatible mobile devices (which Samsung intends to sell soon as the new standard is adopted), even while traveling at high speeds.
"You could say we're liberating the couch potato," said John Godfrey, vice president of government and public affairs at Samsung, moments after the company unveiled the new technology in Las Vegas.
But just how badly does the couch potato want to be liberated? And at what price?
AT&T and Verizon: Wireless at heart
In places like Korea, where Samsung is based and where mobile TV has already taken off, nearly 14 percent cell phones support Digital Mobile Broadcast television, according to ABI Research. That's a high number, compared to most other countries, except maybe Japan.
But ABI Research expects mobile TV will be someday be a cash cow globally as well. According to the firm's forecasts, there will be half a billion mobile video subscribers by 2011. What was a $50 million industry back in 2005 will be worth several hundred billion dollars by 2011. And ABI believes advertising revenues from broadcast mobile video will dwarf subscription revenues from these services.
If Korea is any example, then mobile TV just might become the booming business ABI Research projects it will be. After all, we are a nation of TV addicts.
by Michal Lev-Ram, Business 2.0 Magazine writer-reporter
Source: http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/10/magazines/business2/cesmobiletv.biz2/index.htm
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