| Europe
: Digita, Elisa, MTV, Nelonen, Nokia, Sonera and YLE (The Finnish Broadcasting
Company) are starting a unique mobile TV pilot in Finland. The project
tests mobile TV services and consumer experiences, as well as the underlying
technology, with 500 users in the Helsinki capital region.
Selected from Sonera and Elisa mobile phone customers, the test users
are able to view real-time TV and radio programs on a Nokia 7710 smartphone
equipped with a special accessory to receive mobile TV broadcasts. The
Nokia smartphone also enables direct links to the Internet for access
to background information on TV programs or sports results. Test users
have access to MTV, YLE and Nelonen programs as well as international
theme channels such as CNN, BBC World, Euronews, Eurosport, ViVa Plus
and Fashion TV. The pilot continues until 20 June 2005.
Elisa and Sonera are responsible for customer service, invoicing and
connections to the new interactive supplementary services. Digita has
designed and built the digital TV network needed for the distribution
of mobile TV services and will manage the network, while Nokia will
develop the mobile TV service management and smartphones that can receive
mobile TV broadcasts.
The mobile TV test uses IP Datacasting (IPDC), which conforms with the
DVB-H standard. At the end of 2004, the European Telecommunications
Standards Institute (ETSI) adopted DVB-H as the standard for European
mobile television services, enabling the simultaneous transmission of
several television, radio and video channels to mobile devices.
First user tests promising
The first mobile TV service experiences in Finland happened via a friendly
user test carried out in late 2004. The test showed that people like
to watch mobile TV in cars and other means of transport and in public
places such as cafes. Watching mobile TV at home and in the workplace
was also common. The most usual time was in the mornings and afternoons
and early evening.
The test users were interested in news, weather, sports, current issues,
entertainment and drama and comedy series. Mobile TV was also considered
as a complement to the traditional television. What appealed most to
test users was the fact that you can watch mobile TV anywhere you like.
According to the results, most of the test users would be prepared to
continue using mobile TV services. |
