Number of mobile TV subscribers to reach 107m by 2010

Mobile TV will continue to grow rapidly in the coming years, enabling new methods of delivering video programming and advertisements to consumers Several factors will contribute to the growth of mobile, according to a report from Northern Sky Research (NSR), including the rollout of high speed wireless networks, the increasing availability of mobile content and decreasing prices of mobile TV-enabled handsets. New broadcast networks are also expected to complement existing unicast networks and enable new business models for both live and on-demand video content. NSR predicts mobile TV, based on current and projected trends in this market, to reach 107 million subscribers by 2010. NSR cautions, however, that excessive hype currently dominates the mobile TV discussion. Because of the difficulties and nascent nature of this market, 3G-enabled mobile TV is expected to dominate the market for at least the next two to three years. It will take time for broadcast networks to be deployed and handsets to be made available, so many 3G carriers are now searching for ways to make their existing networks more efficient for carrying video. The utilisation of existing assets is vital to the business case for the first generation of mobile TV. NSR believes that new technologies such as the multimedia broadcast and multicast standard (MBMS) and HSDPA will be critical to the growth and projected rollout of mobile TV over 3G networks. Competition is likely to become quite heated over the next several years, especially between Media FLO, DVB-H and DMB standard backers, but no technology is yet in a leadership position. NSR does not expect a clear winner in this space to be identified for many years, as it will take some time for operators to trial and deploy technologies.

ATI Enters Mobile DVB-H TV Market

ATI Technologies is introducing a single chip, DVB-H compliant, Mobile TV Receiver solution for mobile phones and other handheld devices.The company’s Imageon TV solutions are designed to offer handset manufacturers with system-level flexibility, high integration, low power and optimal BOM cost.The WTV100-M is a single chip front-end that integrates a dual-band RF tuner (UHF for Europe and L-Band for US) with a DVB-T/DVB-H OFDM demodulator and all necessary discretes in a SiP (System-in-Package).The WTV100-M component interfaces to ATI’s Imageon media processors, as the audio and video decoders, for a complete end-to-end DVB-H solution.The WTV100 demodulator supports most worldwide operation modes, can handle simultaneous processing of multiple services, multiple DRM solutions and integrates in hardware a decoder for Multi-Protocol-Encapsulator Forward-Error-Correction (MPE-FEC) and its memory. It also offers flexible and versatile interfaces and allows ATI to work with the industry’s best-in-class silicon RF tuners to provide an extremely compact, proven and reliable front-end component (WTV100-M).ATI’s Imageon TV is a complete and monolithic system-on-chip (SoC) solution that is host, OS and DRM agnostic. It off-loads the host CPU for better operation and seamless integration in any environment.

Korea Eyes India as Mobile TV Market

The Ministry of Information and Communication will cooperate with Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Tata Group, an Indian conglomerate which is considering mobile TV service and Aritel, Inida’s largest GSM carrier in DMB, said the Korean ministry.

According to the information ministry, a DMB demonstration is slated to be held in Mumbai in mid-February and the Korean and Indian governments agreed to sign an MOU in principle.

Like Korea, India reserves Band Ⅲ for DAB(Digital Audio Broadcasting), which means that once the Indian government decides to employ DMB, the service is promptly available in the nation.

Vivendi mobile arm shines

Vivendi Universal (EAUG.PA) posted a 7 percent rise in its fourth-quarter revenue on Monday as its SFR arm, France's second biggest mobile phone operator, helped make up for below-forecast music and games sales.

The French telecoms and media group saw revenues in the three months to December 31 rise to 5.48 billion euros ($6.7 billion) from 5.12 billion euros a year earlier, just above the average forecast of 5.43 billion euros given in a Reuters poll of analysts.
On an underlying basis sales growth in the fourth quarter ran out of steam, dropping to 4 percent from 8 percent in the previous three months and during the first nine months of 2005.
Vivendi is cementing its recovery after a three-year restructuring during which it had to sell assets to cut debts that nearly sank it in 2002.