But regulatory hurdle needs to be overcome
TONY WALTHAM
Offering consumers the opportunity to watch television on a mobile handset may make more business sense than providing 3G data services here, according to content security provider Irdeto's regional sales director Jerry Park.
He bases this observation on the popularity of TV here, the sophistication of mobile handset users when it comes to the use of data services, coupled with the appeal of being able to watch TV while on the move.
Park also cited the example of Malaysia which now offers 3G services, but few consumers there were finding a value proposition in that, while in South Africa mobile TV is being used to promote the sale of 3G handsets.
Digital television for mobiles doesn't use the 3G network, since it is broadcast and is independent of the mobile carriers, and Park said that, for Thailand, mobile television should follow the DVB-H standard, which is transmitted on frequencies currently assigned to analogue television.
Trials have been conducted by the MCOT at Siam Paragon, Park noted, adding "the technology is ready" and it was more "a matter of getting the parties together" while spectrum also needs to be authorised.
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| Jerry Park of Irdeto believes mobile TV will be more popular than 3G services. |
Irdeto works with broadcast content providers to enable secure delivery to different platforms, including the emerging mobile platform on handsets or MP3 players. It also provides a personal video recorder solution to True Visions that enables subscribers to record up to 140 hours of TV programmes, access interactive TV services as well as pause live programmes being watched.
Mobile TV is only available in a few markets, with Korea and Japan being among the most advanced, Park said. As with all services involving radio spectrum, the national regulator overseeing frequency management needs to assign radio spectrum.
Park believes that this is unlikely to occur here until after the National Broadcasting Commission is formed, but says that once the regulatory hurdle is overcome, services could begin within a year.
Singapore and Malaysia have yet to assign spectrum for digital mobile television, while Malaysia has conducted trials, he said.
What probably needs to also happen is a move from analogue television broadcasts to digital transmissions, in the process de-allocating spectrum from the more bandwidth-hungry analogue services and earmarking some of this for the DVB-H mobile digital transmissions, he said. Irdeto was conducting trials in some 25 countries, but the issue of frequency management and allocation was "stymieing the industry", he said. Mobile television is now in its infancy and in most markets today there is a sole provider which is able to offer viewers the widest selection of content. He suggested that True Corporation would be the most logical service provider here, and that True would be well-prepared to market the services since it had a cellular provider with True Move.
In other markets, the average revenue per user of such services was between $10 and $12 (344 to 412 baht), while Indonesia was said to be looking at an ARPU of $7 (241 baht), while market surveys have shown that 70 per cent of mobile subscribers would swap operators to get mobile television, Park said.
Korea leads with over 10 million mobile TV subscribers and there is a wide choice of TV-enabled mobile phones there, along with standalone devices from iRiver, LG, Samsung, BenQ and Motorola, he said. There is also a USB dongle costing less than $30 (about 1,000 baht) to permit viewing on a notebook PC and the pictures were viewable on screens up to 14 inches (36cm) in size. The DVB-H standard now accounts for 70 per cent of the global market, although China has been working on mobile TV for some 18 months and has developed its own standard called S-TIMI, which Park said was an enhancement to satellite DMB technology.
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