Mobile TV: Wait and see in the U.S.?
March 26, 2008
TV or not TV?
The European Commission’s decision to adopt a mobile television standard backed by Finnish handset maker Nokia has garnered mixed reactions in the United States.
Mid-month, the Commission said it would add the Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld standard to the European Union List of Standards. The idea is to harmonize telecommunications across the EU, but it has created some dissonance in the U.S.
“This decision is very exciting and significant for the EU, not necessarily the U.S.,” said Allison Dollar, CEO of trade association ITV Alliance, Santa Monica, CA. “Historically, setting media standards has been more straightforward there than here for a variety of reasons, including our regulatory issues, cultural differences and multiplicity of business models.
“For efficiency’s sake, it’s tempting to think others would jump on the bandwagon and accelerate the deployment of mobile TV worldwide,” she said. “Given the strength of other players, like the corporations supporting [mobile TV service] MediaFlo, it’s not likely to be settled so neatly in the U.S. anytime soon.”
The adoption of DVB-H is intended to create a single market for mobile TV in Europe. It is also timed to anticipate increased usage of mobile TV with such sporting events as the European Football Championship and Summer Olympic Games.
Jason Ling is head of mobile products and technology for MySpace
The worldwide market for mobile TV is projected to reach $31 billion by 2011, with reach estimated at 500 million customers.
DVB-H is the most widely used standard for mobile TV in the EU and the only standard available worldwide. It is in trials and commercial launch in 16 countries within the union.
Commercial DVB-H services are currently available in Italy. More launches are expected this year in France, Austria, Finland, Spain and Switzerland.
Countries such as South Korea, China, Japan and the U.S. typically use other standards including one promoted by Qualcomm, parent of MediaFlo.
One for all ...
“For mobile TV to take off in Europe, there must first be certainty about technology,” said Viviane Reding, EU commissioner for the Information Society and Media, in a statement.
“This is why I’m glad that with [the March 17] decision, taken by the Commission in close coordination with the member states and the European Parliament, the EU endorse DVB-H as the preferred technology for terrestrial mobile broadcasting,” she said.
Next on the agenda is EU guidance on the authorization regimes and promotion of rights management systems based on open standards. DVB-H is based on open standards.
Member countries will be required to push the use of DVB-H with publication of the Commission decision in the EU List of Standards in the EU’s official journal.
The EU expects that this support to the DVB family will encourage other countries to make decisions on digital and mobile broadcasting technology using DVB-T, DVB-H and DVB-SH.
“They have the right answer,” said Jason Ling, head of mobile technology and development at MySpace, Beverly Hills, CA.
“With a standardized technology, content providers and developers will find it easier to get the media to the masses,” he said. “This is going to be a great step towards the distribution of long-format digital content in the mobile space.”
... but not all for one
Mark Deetjen, vice president of content at Viva Vision, Santa Monica, CA, said that having a European standard is reminiscent of what happened in the video business – competing formats in Europe and the U.S., or PAL versus NTSC.
“However, the biggest hurdle facing mobile video at this time is penetration of video-enabled handsets,” Mr. Deetjen said. “Currently, there are not enough people with handsets capable of powering video programming on a VOD or streaming OTA basis. This challenge is evidenced by the slower than expected growth in mobile video.
“With new technologies like MediaFlo and DVB-H, we are again asking consumers to upgrade their phones to devices that have chipsets capable of broadcasting mobile TV,” he said. “We are surely looking at a number of handset upgrade cycles until we reach a critical mass of devices that can run this programming.”
Besides hardware, other issues for mobile TV’s adoption are the user interface and programming available. On the latter point, the EU believes a transparent intellectual property rights regime is key for mobile TV’s success.
The European Commission will closely monitor the DVB-H patent pool.
“Not trying to be skeptical at the viability of the format, but we have to be realistic about the speed of adoption,” Mr. Deetjen said. “On the other hand, if you put the right programming on the service, consumers may flock to it.
“At this point, it’s about the content driving the experience and simply recycling TV shows probably will not cut the mustard,” he said. “We need to develop compelling content to drive adoption.
“Additionally, once we reach critical mass, the ad dollars spent against the medium will increase and we will see a viable business model appear. Until then, mobile TV will be a curiosity.”