Mobile TV in India

Posted on | April 2, 2006 |

Was reading some articles on Mobile TV in India and thought they were mixing up things and raising hype-alarms. Therefore this post. I don’t claim to be an expert in this and welcome feedback from knowledgeable readers.

Strictly speaking Mobile TV refers to live TV transmitted through digital broadcasting technologies such as DVB-H and DMB. The broadcast network for digital mobile TV is different from the cellular networks. Therefore, 3G networks are not a pre-requisite for this type of mobile TV. In case of DVB-H, which is backed by Nokia and is emerging as the dominant standard, the following elements need to be in place for the service to take off.

1. Broadcasters transmitting using DVB-H
2. IPDC network with transmission sites
3. Supporting handsets like Nokia 92

The other form of Mobile TV is similar to video-on-demand. In this type of service, the operator works with content providers to host video clips which downloaded on demand by users. The delivery of these videos happen through the data channels of the cellular network. Therefore, the speed of the data networks become important and delay in introducing 3G networks does affect quality of service and its uptake. An on-demand video service would require atleast EDGE and preferably a WCDMA network.

Video-on-demand type of Mobile TV has to wait till EDGE/3G or EVDO networks are in place. The GPRS networks are not made for video and can barely cope up with mobile internet. Digital broadcast flavour of Mobile TV is still in its infancy worldwide. Only South Korea has recently introduced public services based on DMB while DVB-H trials have begun in some Europian countries.

Other technologies to keep an eye in this space include Qualcomm’s MediaFLO and TDtv.

Related Articles:
India sleeps, world moves on with mobile TV
Time not yet ready for mobile TV
Nokia may make N-Series mobile-TV phones in India

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