MobileMonday Global

^{Nokia, Philips, Universal Studios and Vodafone} Mobile TV to be tested in Berlin

Nokia, Philips, Universal Studios Networks Germany and Vodafone Pilotentwicklung, the Vodafone research center in Germany plan to pilot mobile TV broadcasts this year in Berlin.

The platform combines mobile communications based on GPRS and digital terrestrial broadcast, both DVB-T and the emerging DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast - Handheld) standard, which uses time-slicing techniques to send data in bursts, extending the battery life of mobile devices. It will be used to explore the opportunities for new services that this form of convergence of mobile and broadcast may provide.

The companies signed an agreement on August 29, 2003 to form the Berlin-based bmco (broadcast mobile convergence) project group, the first pilot convergent platform to support delivery of broadcast content to mobile devices is being developed.

"This platform implementation is key to enable broadcast and mobile convergence," said Prof. Claus Sattler, the bmco project manager. "We are taking the first steps towards piloting of rich media applications such as TV-like services on portable/mobile devices and phones."

The project combines the core competences of manufacturers of TV-based and mobile devices, a mobile network operator, as well as content and service providers. Within the bmco project, user requirements, as well as the business, technical and regulatory requirements for such new applications will be examined.

Potential applications include broadcast-enabled mobile phones, portable devices such as laptops and web-pads as well as in-car devices, portable TV sets in and outside the home, and stationary TV sets in the home, which might benefit from wireless transmission.

This may allow the provision of a range of paid services that combine the cost-efficient distribution of broadcast and multimedia data on stationary, portable and mobile devices with the personalization, interaction and billing features of mobile networks in a way that has not been possible before.

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