Going live in a mobile world

By Lorraine Mallinder

Date: 15/06/06

Back in the eighties, when the young and aspiring wielded mobile phones the size of steam-irons, the idea of being able to watch television on devices a fraction of the size would have been pure sci-fi.

"The World Cup is a big TV event, a springboard for mobile TV," says David McQueen, analyst at UK research firm Informa Telecoms and Media. "A lot of [mobile telephone] operators are launching World Cup services in the form of text alerts and streaming of game highlights, but there isn't a lot of live stuff yet, as there just isn't the capacity."

Following a slew of trials aimed at testing consumer demand in a number of EU member states, mobile operators 3 (Italy) and Debitel (Germany) are broadcasting matches live to fans on the move. Germany and Italy are using rival transmission standards.

The current favourite for EU domination, digital video broadcasting for handheld (DVB-H) technology, is being pioneered by Italy's 3. Germany, on the other hand, is using the digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) standard, which was developed in Korea.

DVB-H is widely seen as being the more capable of the two, particularly given its proximity to the existing EU digital TV standard, DVB-T.

The success of mobile TV will very much depend on the ability of EU member states to free up spectrum, the finite natural resource which allows the packaging of electronic data on the airwaves. Back in March, Viviane Reding, the information society commissioner, called for the allocation of common European spectrum bandwidths. Her timely speech, delivered at an electronics trade fair in Hanover, urged member states not to wait for the analogue television switch-off in 2012 to catch up with the US, which already has the capability to roll out nationwide mobile TV networks.

Informa predicts that there will be 210 million subscribers to mobile TV worldwide by 2011, a figure which represents about half of current mobile subscribers. The emerging technology will not only create substantial opportunities for network operators, but also for broadcasters, who will be able to generate revenue by repackaging content for the mobile market, and phone manufacturers, who are currently battling it out to produce the most efficient handsets in terms of battery power and reception.

Mark Smith, media communications director at the GSM Association, which represents vendors selling the world's largest mobile system says, "There is a lot of hype, but a lot of surveys have all been very favourable in terms of user reaction and willingness to pay for the technology."

"By the Beijing Olympics in 2008, we'll see a real spurt in the usage," says McQueen. "By that stage there will be more handsets, the networks will have been rolled out and costs will be coming down."

Author takes a look at the latest technology which gave consumers new opportunities for watching the 2006 World Cup.
Article is part of a European Voice Special Report, 'The EU and Football'.