Nokia today announced the world’s first commercial service management solution for DVB-H services, the Nokia Mobile Broadcast Solution 3.0. It supports the broadcasting of different types of digital content such as live TV, radio and video clips over DVB-H networks to mobile devices.
Key features of the MBS 3.0 include the Electronic Service Guide (ESG), with an ability to search available services, setting alerts for upcoming programs and for the viewing selection. Additionally, the MBS 3.0 offers service protecion, flexible content pricing schemes and provides consumers with an easy way to purchase viewing rights.
The MBS 3.0 is based on open standards such as DVB-H. It fully implements the Open Air Interface (OAI) 1.0 implementation guidelines which Nokia published in August 2005. It specifies how mobile TV devices connect with the DVB-H network and the servers of the overall mobile TV service infrastructure. Nokia says their platform can serve several content providers and offers content providers a protected distribution channel to mobile users. Broadcasters get flexibility in defining the geographical distribution coverage and service bundles consisting of free-to-air, subscription based and pay-per-view services as well as setting pricing schemes.
The Nokia Mobile Broadcast Solution 3.0 will be available in the first quarter of 2006. Verizon has indicated they may use the DVB-H system as an alternative delivery vehicle for their successful, cellular-based V-Cast broadcast.
Castle Mobile Media will use the mobilized television standard, DVB-H on their 1.7 GHz band next year. Other backers of DVB-H include Microtune, Nokia, O2, S-Communications, S3, Texas Instruments, TTPCom, and UDcast.
A DVB-H radio receiver in the handset sends 15 Mbit/s of data per 8MHz channel, and adds error correction to compensate for poor reception. U.S. television channels are 6 Mhz wide, producing around 12 Mbit/s of throughput. The robustness of COFDM in mobile environments is said to make it a good match for mobile multi-media devices. DVB is a global television standard, using COFDM instead of the multipath error-prone 8-VSB modulation of the ATSC DTV standard.
Competitor Qualcomm expects to launch its U.S. network, MediaFLO Technology in the 700 Mhz band, with at least one carrier customer (probably Sprint), in October of next year. They demoed the first live, over-the-air demonstration of FLO (Forward Link Only), delivered to a wireless handset just last week. Qualcomm says it requires only two or three broadcast towers per metropolitan area — that’s 30 to 50 times fewer towers than required by traditional cellular systems.
Crown Castle, which owns cellsites from coast to coast, spent a paltry $12 million on the spectrum for its DVB-H offering. Qualcomm spent $70 million on spectrum alone and figures on another $800 million on building out their competitive MediaFLO network. Although Qualcomm bought spectrum nation-wide in an FCC auction, they may still have problems with television broadcasters squatting on the spectrum.
Qualcomm’s MediaFLO can fit 20 channels while DVB-H can fit only nine over a 6 MHz channel, say Qualcomm’s technical white papers. DVB-H proponents dispute those exact numbers, saying that many factors from allotted bandwidth, to frequencies used determine how many video channels can be shoved into a particular swathe of spectrum.
Sprint became the first wireless carrier to offer MobiTV to consumers. The $10-a-month service, now also offered by Cingular, has attracted 500,000 subscribers. Cingular has adopted Real’s solution, Helix OnlineTV, enabling providers to offer personal interactive TV over handsets or PCs. Sprint, as of today, is now offering MobiTV on their EV-DO network which should make it more competitive with Verizon’s V-Cast with offers a similar (but not live) mobile tv service for cell phones. But those solutions eat up cellular bandwidth.
Crown Castle’s nationwide DVB-H service, in the L band (1670 MHz to 1675 MHz) and Qualcomm’s MediaFLO, with 6 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band across the United States, off-load bandwidth heavy media files. They can also multicast to millions, simultaneously.
Related DailyWireless stories include, Verizon Takes DVB-H Crown, Sprint: Go with the FLO?, Big Media Mobilize, Global Mobile Television, DVB-H TV From Pace, WiMax Handsets, Taiwan Goes for DVB-H, Laptop Television, Cuban: Broadcasting Not Dead, Mobile TV Expands, Intel On DVB-H, MobileTV via DVB-H, DirecTV + WiMax?, 700 Mhz Goes Commercial, Google TV?, WiMax Handsets, The 700 MHz Club, Auction #44 in the 700 MHz Low Band, WiMax: On The Road with Adaptix and MultiMedia Interoperability.
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