The world’s two most popular consumer electronics devices may soon be combined into one-the mobile TV phone. Behold.
Although one is designed for sedentary, passive entertainment and the other for portable, two-way interactions, technology companies the world over are scurrying to build devices that can support both activities. Indeed, powerhouses like Nokia Corp., Texas Instruments Inc., Qualcomm Inc., NEC Corp. and LG Electronics Co. Ltd. have voiced support for mobile TV phones, and in some cases have already invested millions of dollars into the untested market.
TV-style content has been available to mobile-phone users for more than a year; wireless customers have long been able to download video clips using GPRS and CDMA 1xRTT networks. Live, streaming TV over wireless data networks is even available through the MobiTV application from Idetic Inc.
However, the quality of such content is generally poor-the audio can go in and out, and the video can slow to a slide-show crawl. More importantly, video content puts a strain on even the fastest wireless networks and potentially could cut into the quality of voice calls. High-speed wireless data networks like W-CDMA and CDMA EV-DO can support quality video clips of five to 10 minutes for a relatively small number of users, but offering streaming TV to millions of users is another matter.
To solve the problem, some are promoting an approach that would take TV off the wireless data network entirely. Instead, it would be broadcast through a separate, dedicated mobile TV network. Although TV is already broadcast over its own network to TV sets, such technology is generally not suitable for portable devices like mobile phones. Thus, engineers have developed transmission technologies like DVB-H, MediaFLO, and DMB that are specifically designed to transmit digital audio and video to portable, battery-powered devices. Proponents boast that such technologies would offer video speeds of up to 30 frames per second, which is about the same as standard TV video, and mobile-phone batteries could support several hours’ worth of viewing.
Essentially, the idea is to combine a TV receiver and a mobile phone. Voice and data communications would be conducted over the standard wireless network, while TV would be received over a dedicated mobile TV network. Such phones would require special TV tuners and chipsets capable of translating TV data. Those in the industry suggest the addition of a TV tuner would be similar to-and cost as much as-integrating other radio technologies like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi into a phone.
Interestingly, the development of the nascent mobile TV business appears to be mirroring that of the early days of wireless. There is a profusion of standards, an untested business model and a palpable sense of energy. Some believe the mobile-phone/TV combination is inevitable, while others see it as a bubble in need of bursting.
The most obvious parallel to the early days of wireless involves two longtime adversaries: Nokia Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. Nokia is supporting the DVB-H standard for mobile TV, which was developed by a primarily European organization. Qualcomm, on the other hand, has developed its own proprietary mobile TV technology it promotes as a more suitable, end-to-end offering. It’s GSM vs. CDMA all over again.
“Qualcomm is always a renegade,” explained Jeff Lorbeck, vice president and general manager of Qualcomm’s MediaFLO USA Inc. subsidiary. The subsidiary is charged with building an $800 million nationwide mobile TV network in the 700 MHz spectrum band.
Lorbeck said Qualcomm researched various mobile TV technologies, including DVB-H, South Korea’s DMB and Japan’s ISDB-T. He said the company found all the technologies somewhat lacking, and therefore, decided to build its own offering. Qualcomm’s MediaFLO encompasses not only the transmission technology but also the software for the chipset, phone and user interface.
“DVB-H is an air interface, whereas MediaFLO … is an end-to-end solution,” Lorbeck said. “We’ve really tried to think of one end of the value chain to the other.”
Lorbeck said one MediaFLO tower could cover an entire city, if it were a relatively flat location like Phoenix. He said the multicasting service could offer video of up to 30 frames per second, and mobile-phone batteries could power “several hours” of TV viewing.
However, Qualcomm faces its share of challenges. Its 700 MHz spectrum is not completely clear of other broadcasters, which could pose interference problems. Qualcomm plans to commercially launch the service by 2006.
“We knew it would take some time to get it completely clear,” Lorbeck said. “We’re going to take it step by step.”
Qualcomm will launch MediaFLO first in the cities where interference won’t be a problem and will work to expand as the spectrum clears up. Further, Lorbeck said that because Qualcomm’s technology is new to the scene, the company is in negotiations with the Federal Communications Commission over exactly how it falls into the regulations of interference. Lorbeck said Qualcomm is not trying to loosen the definition of interference, but is only looking to clarify how the regulations will be applied in this situation.
On the other side sits Nokia, which is testing a DVB-H network with tower company Crown Castle International Corp. The trial is being conducted in Pittsburgh, Pa., with DVB-H-capable Nokia 7710 devices. The service supports around 30 frames per second, and the phones provide around three hours of TV viewing.
“It looks great,” said Michael Schueppert, Crown Castle’s senior vice president of business development. “It’s like regular TV. It’s very watchable.”
Crown Castle owns 5 megahertz of nationwide spectrum in the 1670 MHz band, which it is using for the trial. Schueppert said the company has no definite plans to build a DVB-H network, but it is in discussions with carriers, content providers, chipset makers and handset vendors for such an offering. Schueppert said Crown Castle plans to offer a trial service to a “couple hundred” customers in Pittsburgh in the first half of next year.
Schueppert declined to discuss how much a buildout would cost, but he said the company could cover a large city with between 20 to 50 DVB-H towers. The company would rely on its large tower portfolio for such a buildout.
Schueppert said Qualcomm’s MediaFLO effort represents somewhat of a validation of the mobile TV business model.
“I think in many ways they are pursuing things similar to ours … and it’s sort of encouraging really,” he said. “It looks to us like DVB-H and FLO are very similar technologies.”
Interestingly, both DVB-H and MediaFLO rely on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing technology. OFDM is notable for Qualcomm, which made its mark on wireless with the development of CDMA technology. Qualcomm’s Lorbeck said the company doesn’t have a problem using OFDM because it is more suited for mobile TV broadcasts.
Schueppert agreed that there are advantages to Qualcomm’s proprietary approach. He said the company can quickly make changes because it is not tied into a standards group. However, he said, “We think there are greater advantages to the standards approach,” such as economies of scale and worldwide support.
Indeed, chip vendor Texas Instruments announced plans to sell DVB-H chips by 2007, with samples available by 2006. TI plans to sell chips that support both the DVB-H standard as well as Japan’s ISDB-T. Kush Parikh, strategic marketing manager for TI’s connectivity solutions group, said TI plans to support open standard technologies that have broad industry support.
“We see 2005 and 2006 … as being a chance to flesh out the technologies,” Parikh said.
Nokia plans to sell a DVB-H device by 2006.
As usual, the push for mobile TV in the United States follows similar efforts in Europe and Asia. In Japan, handset makers have been working on mobile phones that can support the country’s ISDB-T transmission standard; NEC Corp. showed off a prototype ISDB-T mobile phone last year. In Korea, companies including LG Electronics Co. Ltd. have been promoting the DMB standard. Indeed, LG said it has spent $19 million and two years developing devices for the technology and plans to promote it globally. LG recently introduced a prototype phone that supports terrestrial DMB and includes an integrated 1.3-megapixel camera and MP3 player. In Europe, wireless carriers Vodafone Group plc and MmO2 are testing DVB-H networks.
“Wireless video is destined to go to a dedicated broadcast network,” said TI’s Parikh.
