| NOTAS: | Mobile phones and broadcast television are two of the most influential and popular consumer technologies of the electronics age. So what happens when the two are merged together? Mobile TV
The concept of mobile TV - the ability to watch live, direct broadcasts on mobile handsets - is potentially one of the most disruptive technologies on the horizon for mobile operators, and could dramatically reduce mobile data revenues. Why bother paying to download just a clip of the soccer goal over 3G when you can watch the whole match? Can Video-on-Demand really compete with TV? Is it time to forget Video-on-Demand? What is your company doing about Mobile TV?
The new visiongain report "Mobile TV: Market Analysis and Forecasts 2004-2009" details how trend-setting carriers in Japan and South Korea are looking to satellites for broadcasting delivery of TV and even digital music content to handsets. But it's not just these two innovative markets, a few forward-looking mobile operators and manufacturers in Europe have also started trials of the technology. So there is no doubt about it, Mobile TV is coming and you need to be aware of its potential now.
Visiongain believes Mobile TV has the potential to become a success in the non-voice segment. Indeed, the ability to watch movie trailers, news, sport and TV show clips is seen as one of the main offerings and differentiators of the 3G networks that European mobile operators spent billions of Euro on. It is true that 3G operators hold a first-mover advantage in providing TV content, but 'real' mobile TV will come into its own with digital, multicast technology, which offers higher quality at a lower cost.
TV phones capable of capturing analogue signals have been around for a while. But it is really the addition of mobile digital media broadcasting (DMB) technology that will allow Mobile TV to come into its own. Samsung and Nokia are among those handset manufacturers that have announced phones that will be able to handle digital TV signals, and both are expected to be on the market in 2005. These devices with built-in digital TV receivers, to be released by the world's largest and third largest manufacturers, promise to provide a boost for handset demand, and are just two of a plethora of phones that will hit the market in the coming years. In this 180+ page visiongain forecasts that if Mobile TV is priced and packaged correctly, there could be up to 270 million subscribers worldwide with TV functionality on their mobile phones by 2009. |
