MobileMonday Global

^{Nokias and Ericssons support it} OMA camp stands up for common mobile TV

Digitenne, Ericsson, KPN, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, NXP Semiconductors, Sony Ericsson, Telefónica, O2 Europe, T-Mobile, Vodafone and ZTE have announced their support for a Mobile TV implementation profile developed within the Broadcast Mobile Convergence Forum (bmcoforum).

The profile simplifies the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Mobile Broadcast Services Enabler Suite (BCAST) specification for fast implementations ensuring interoperability and future proofing further developments.

The three main features supported by this profile are:

1. Advanced service and program guide (ESG) enabling a rich set of services
2. Support for multiple broadcast technologies
3. Support for content and service protection, using the Smart Card Profile (based on (U)SIM Card) or the DRM Profile (based on OMA DRM V2.0)

Support for DVB-H broadcast networks and cellular systems, as well as the 3G Mobile Broadcast Service (MBMS), are covered in the OMA-BCAST specification. This allows companies to extend current business models and broaden current and future Mobile TV services. As a result, operators will be able to offer customers more choice in watching TV on their handset.

The bmcoforum OMA BCAST implementation profile ensures the best possible interoperability between the handsets and broadcast systems, providing customers with a smooth Mobile TV experience, and allowing large scale handset development.

The bumcoForum firmly believes that such a profile will speed up large scale Mobile TV deployments in Europe

The profile defined by bmcoforum is the first implementation subset of the feature rich Mobile Broadcast Services Enabler Suite 1.0 (OMA BCAST 1.0) developed by the Open Mobile Alliance.

"Ericsson sees that TV is significantly changing as it evolves from linear TV to personalised and interactive TV. We support open solutions with a common approach for Mobile TV delivery across 3G networks over HSPA and MBMS as well as in other broadcast networks", says Claes Ödman, head of Multimedia Solutions at Ericsson.

"Nokia warmly welcomes the industry agreement for the end-to-end implementation profile that caters for both DVB-H and 3G solutions," says Jouni Kämäräinen, Director, Multimedia, Nokia. "We see a strong parallel to the early days of development of GSM. The great commitment in the industry for a clear implementation profile will be followed by common test practices that will create a coherent and open market for successful worldwide DVB-H deployments. The bmcoforum implementation profile of the OMA BCAST standard is essential in launching Mobile TV services on a global scale," says Jouni Kämäräinen, Director, Multimedia, Nokia.

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