Video Viewing Lights Up Handsets
Early mobile video and live TV offerings seem promising, but business models and technology solutions are still being refined.
wirelessweek.com
By Sue Marek
September 15, 2004
Wireless Week
© 2004, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
For reality show junkies, sports nuts and couch potatoes, staying tuned into television has become much easier. Thanks to Sprint's early leadership in launching TV via the cell phone, U.S. consumers can view programming from a variety of content providers via their Sprint wireless phone. Other carriers are expected to follow suit, and many are currently considering various mobile video offerings.
These early services are just a stepping stone to what's on tap on the video front, particularly when wireless operators migrate to higher speed and bigger bandwidth technologies such as 1XEV-DO and UMTS. But will these initial mobile video offerings compel subscriber usage and generate enough momentum to attract more content providers and programmers to the service?
MobiTV Makes Headway Sprint launched its first video offering last November when it introduced MobiTV service to its subscribers. MobiTV offers real-time broadcasts of programming from a variety of networks including NBC News, ABC News Now, FOX Sports and The Weather Channel. MobiTV is powered by Idetic, which operates similar to a cable company by securing the content from the programmers and inking deals with wireless providers. "We're the Comcast of the wireless world," says Philip Alvelda, CEO of Idetic.
Although Sprint has not revealed how many MobiTV subscribers it has, Alvelda says that the numbers are significant enough to please MobiTV's programming partners.
The company views wireless operators as the data transport mechanism, and MobiTV is working to build its brand presence. But that doesn't mean the company is opposed to providing private-label service should a carrier require that type of relationship. For now, however, MobiTV's relationship with Sprint is non-exclusive and the company is currently in discussions with other carriers and content partners.
Alvelda says that MobiTV is aware of wireless operators' desire to differentiate and the company is able to customize content that is unique to the operator. "The brand name and graphics are customizable as well as the services and billing plans," Alvelda says.
The MobiTV service from Sprint is compatible with about 18 Sprint handsets. To receive the service, customers must have phones with the MobiTV client, which is available for Java-based handsets and is BREW certified.
MobiTV costs Sprint customers who subscribe to the PCS Vision service an additional $10 per month. Alvelda says currently the business model is a revenue share relationship, where each content provider makes money based on the number of subscribers. And similar to other types of mobile content relationships, well-known brands can demand bigger chunks of the revenue than lesser-known or less popular brands.
Like any new distribution model, MobiTV initially has attracted some of the more adventurous content providers, many of which are looking to secure more market share. But Alvelda expects the more well-known programmers to start flocking to the service once the medium proves itself. "Networks that initially were hesitant are coming to the table now," he says. "We're adding new channels every month."
MobiTV isn't Sprint's only video offering. The company launched a second service last month called Sprint TV, which delivers 10 channels of specially produced short audio and video clips from major networks. Sprint says it has 600 new streaming audio clips available every day. The service, like MobiTV, costs PCS Vision subscribers an additional $10 per month, plus content from premium channels costs an additional $4 to $5 per month.
For now, Sprint TV is limited to subscribers who have the Samsung MM-A700 handset, which has a 262K color-screen with an embedded media player.
More Options Idetic certainly isn't the only company trying to provide video content to carriers or offer platforms that allow carriers to deliver video. Comverse has been testing a mobile video portal with several European and Asian operators. The portal provides a selection tool with options for customers to choose news, weather, sports or entertainment.
Comverse executives say that although the technology to deliver video is available, the business case is still being determined. "There is still a question of whether I can find the right content, produce it and make it applicable to a small mobile screen device," says James Colby, vice president of marketing and business development at Comverse.
One reason for the importance in finding the right content is cellular technologies require peer-to-peer delivery, and transmitting enough data required to watch a TV clip burdens the network. According to Colby, cellular is an expensive medium for that sort of TV transmission.
New higher bandwidth technologies such as EV-DO or UMTS may offer more bandwidth to make that type of peer-to-peer communication more viable, but some companies still are looking at more economical ways to deliver video.
Better Economics Qualcomm, which last March debuted a new technology called MediaFlo, believes that multicasting video is the way to make video delivery over wireless more affordable. The company has not yet announced any carrier customers but expects to commercially debut the service during the fourth quarter.
According to Rob Chandhok, vice president of engineering for Qualcomm Technology and Ventures, the company believes that most mobile video services will be difficult to deliver profitably because consumers are conditioned to getting bulk entertainment in a mass market format similar to how TV and radio content is delivered. But with MediaFlo, content is transmitted during down times in the network and then cached in the handset's memory for playback later. "Multicasting makes the incremental cost of serving one more subscriber – adding one more person – have no impact," Chandhok says. "But if you are sending one copy to one subscriber, there is a limit."
MediaFlo could work over existing 1XRTT networks; however, Chandhok says that Qualcomm has decided to introduce the service over the EV-DO network instead because of the additional bandwidth and speed. Still, when a customer on the EV-DO network roams into territory where EV-DO doesn't exist, Mediaflo will work over the 1XRTT network.
Although Chandhok says that wireless carriers ultimately will make all decisions regarding consumer charges and the revenue breakdown, he believes that it is realistic to expect carriers to charge between $10 and $20 for a content package. Similar to Qualcomm's BREW model, MediaFlo will provide a variety of content to carriers, and customers will need a handset with a MediaFlo client to receive the multicasted video.
Whether mobile video is delivered via multicasting or peer-to-peer, the service is gaining steam among carriers thanks to early offerings from Sprint. Content providers seem willing to test this new medium, but the delivery mechanism and the price of the service are still in flux. |
