MobiTV prepares for hybrid cellular/broadcast mobile phone TV networks; announces support for DVB-H and DMB at 3GSM

In preparation for the expected migration of live broadcast TV services from cellular networks to broadcast overlay networks, like DVB-H, MobiTV revealed at the 3GSM World Congress conference in early February that it can now integrate various standards-based, wireless broadcast network technologies with its existing cellular-based service platform.

MobiTV has helped pioneer mobile phone television with a number of major mobile phone customers in the US and Europe using its solution to deliver live television on cellular networks - primarily 3G. Customers include Orange and '3' in the UK. But it is widely acknowledged that even 3G networks will not be able to cope with capacity demands once TV-to-mobiles grows in popularity.

Verizon Wireless in the US provided a clue to what lays ahead when it announced in December that it will use MediaFLO USA's broadcast overlay network later this year (based on Qualcomm’s Forward Link Only  transmission technology in 700 MHz spectrum) to deliver live TV to its subscribers. Verizon currently offers video clips as part of its VCAST offering but has clearly decided that for multi-channel live TV, cellular networks are not the answer alone.

Each mobile video service provider will have their own network considerations, of course, and some may offer all broadcast TV channels on 'overlay' networks, while others may offer the most popular channels this way, but continue to deliver other live channels using cellular infrastructure. And the 3G/2.5G mobile phone networks will continue to be used for on-demand video including an increasing volume of Video on Demand.

MobiTV has anticipated the emergence of hybrid mobile video networks; thus the announcement at 3GSM that the company's television 'platform' will now support DVB-H, DMB, MBMS, BCMCS, TDtv, WiMAX and WiFi. These can be integrated with the range of cellular technologies already supported by MobiTV including GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, CDMA, 1XRTT and 1X EVDO. The result, according to MobiTV, is flexible, profitable and future-proof capacity management solutions for mobile video network operators.

"As the established leader in mobile television worldwide, one of the
biggest challenges we face is the need to deliver the broadest possible
range of premium content to a very rapidly growing international subscriber
base," declares Phillip Alvelda, CEO and chairman of MobiTV. "Broadcast and multicast technologies will clearly address concentrated demand for the most popular content in the most dense population centres.

"But unicast solutions are also clearly necessary to meet our customers'
demands for personalised content, niche 'long-tail' type channels, and
integrated commerce. Our unified network delivery solution combines the advantages of both approaches without compromise, offering easy paths to upgrade and integrate new technologies as they emerge."

MobiTV points to limitations in overlay network technologies (like DVB-H), including lack of interactivity when compared to cellular solutions. Interactive applications will be an important part of new video-to-mobile services and they are seen as a key revenue generator by mobile phone operators.