Virgin Mobile Holdings plc is set to be one of the first European operators to launch mobile TV services using a dedicated mobile TV network. The company, which operates a number of mobile virtual operator services around the world, laid out plans to launch mobile TV later this year using BT Movio, the mobile TV network built by BT Group plc. Virgin Mobile said it plans to use Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Media technology and Windows Mobile-based smart phones.
Virgin Mobile said the service would use HTC Corp.’s Trilogy handset for the service, which supports Digital Audio Broadcasting technology.
Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group of companies, joined Microsoft’s Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer via a video message broadcast on stage at the 3GSM conference to introduce the Trilogy smart phone.
“Mobile TV marks the beginning of a new epoch for our industry and the Virgin Mobile telephone is something I know consumers are really excited about,” said Branson. “Everyone watches TV these days, and being able to watch your favorite programs on your mobile while on the go will soon be as natural as watching TV in your living room today.”
Virgin Mobile said customers that subscribe to the forthcoming mobile TV service would have access to more than 350 DAB stations broadcasting 24 hours per day.
“Virgin Mobile customers will be the first people in Europe to watch real broadcast TV over their mobile phones,” stated Graeme Hutchinson, sales and marketing director of Virgin Mobile. “It’s not downloaded; it’s not looped; it’s real TV just like you get at home, and it’s real DAB digital radio-crystal clear sound.”
BT’s mobile TV technology, called DAB, is a separate mobile TV network that operators can use to provide mobile TV services. BT Movio said its DAB-based mobile TV network would be available to all mobile operators in the United Kingdom.
Similar networks are being built in the United States. Qualcomm Inc.’s MediaFlo subsidiary is working on a network technology called Flo and has already signed up Verizon Wireless as a customer. Meanwhile, Crown Castle International Corp.’s subsidiary, Modeo L.L.C., is set to offer mobile TV via DVB-H technology. Modeo plans to launch services in the nation’s top 30 markets, sometime this year.
Meanwhile, IPWireless Inc. announced that Orange SA would be the first UMTS operator globally to trial TDtv, the company’s mobile TV solution that is designed to allow wireless operators to deliver mobile TV broadcasts using their existing next-generation spectrum and cell site infrastructure.
IPWireless said the trial is scheduled to begin in mid-2006 using Orange’s unpaired 3G spectrum in the U.K.
In January, IPWireless launched TDtv, which combines its UMTS TD-CDMA technology with the Third Generation Partnership Project’s Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Standard technology. TDtv is designed to operate in the universal unpaired 3G spectrum bands that are available across Europe and Asia at 1900 MHz and 2010 MHz. The company claims that unlike unicast mobile TV services, which take additional network bandwidth for every subscriber, TDtv leverages MBMS to allow an unlimited number of customers to watch the same channel or use the same network bandwidth. The company noted that the design allows mobile operators to deliver up to 50 channels of TV for standard cell phone screens, or 17 higher quality QVGA channels, in 5MHz of unpaired 1.9 GHz spectrum.
The company has mentioned that TDtv would also be available in other frequency bands, including the 2.5 GHz band that Sprint Nextel Corp. has been using to test next-generation multimedia services. In fact, IPWireless said Sprint Nextel is trialing its UMTS TD-CDMA technology in Washington, D.C. and plans to run a trial of TDtv in the United States.
IPWireless points out its TDtv may be attractive to UMTS operators in possession of universal spectrum across multiple properties since TDtv allows for simplified sourcing of devices and roaming across countries.
“Our new TDtv multimedia platform will allow Orange to evaluate the use of its unpaired 1.9 GHz spectrum to deliver unparalleled multimedia services for subscribers,” said Bill Jones, chief operating officer at IPWireless.
Alcatel Corp. also announced a mobile TV deal at 3GSM with T-Mobile International to provide “TV in Your Pocket” service in Germany, the U.K. and Austria. Alcatel said its service allows operators to offer interactive and personalized mobile TV programs to EDGE and 3G users.
