LOS ANGELES–Skepticism about the potential of mobile television is rampant within the wireless industry, according to a recent survey of executives conducted by Mercer Management Consulting.
However, a panel of executives during a breakout session at last week’s CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment show on the status of the mobile entertainment marketplace expressed optimism about media adoption, but voiced concerns about packing too many capabilities into increasingly smaller handsets and aiding customers in discovering those new capabilities and content.
Mercer’s survey set the tone for the CTIA session on mobile TV. The firm surveyed about 300 industry executives about mobile TV and video services, and doubt abounded–particularly on how much mobile TV could boost average revenues per user. Seven out of 10 executives believed that video would result in an additional $5 of ARPU or less per month, and nine out of 10 saw little or no chance that a majority of users would adopt the technology within three years.
However, the session wasn’t all doom and gloom. Frank Boulben, executive vice president of brand and consumer marketing for European operator Orange, said that mobile TV users there often spend between six to 10 euros per month to watch videos, typically viewing 30 to 40 minutes on their handset per month.
Mobile video needs to be very simple to access and offer familiar brands in order to successfully introduce itself to consumers, according to Scott Wills, chief operating officer of Hiwire, which is using its 700 MHz spectrum to launch Aloha Partners’ mobile TV service.
Another issue to address is the limited space on the carrier deck, said Cingular Wireless L.L.C. executive director Robert Hyatt.
“We’ve got a Home Depot worth of stuff to sell, and we’ve got a hotdog cart worth of space to sell it in.”
Hyatt also said an additional concern is that handsets will increasingly serve multiple purposes–as cameras, music players and mini-computers along with being mobile telephones. He said there may be so much jammed into a device that “people can’t get at the good stuff.”
Customers also are weary of having to build multiple libraries of content on different devices as well as having to pay for the same content multiple times if they want to access it using multiple mediums, said Paul Reddick, vice president of business development and product innovation for Sprint Nextel Corp.
But the quality of the available content is improving, according to Wade McGill, senior vice president of product management and development at Alltel Corp.
“The content is getting much better and richer in and of itself,” said McGill. He then went on to say that his company has to “do a better job of merchandising the content so that the consumer can go find it.”
