Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts

3/10/2008

India : Mobile TV commercial rollout expected in 2008

The commercial rollout of mobile TV is expected to happen later this year even as Doordarshan is currently running trials with Nokia in Delhi. The government has asked for white papers from different parties on how to take this forward.

This point was made during the Sixth International Conference on Communications Convergence which was organised by IMC.
Speaking on mobile TV, NMIS University’s Chirag Unadkat said DVB-H is emerging as the preferred standard. The challenge for the other players will be in terrestrial spectrum allocation. Will the government be willing to take some spectrum away from DD and give to other players? The spectrum needed for one DD channel can serve 30 mobile channels, said Unadkat.

There is, however, the regulatory issue. Under whose jurisdiction will mobile television come? Is it the broadcaster or the telecom operator? According to Unadkat, telecom companies will play a supporting role in terms of providing things like billing and logistics support.
Another issue is that there are very few handsets in the country that are equipped to support mobile TV. Such a handset costs around Rs 500 more than an average one, Unadkat explained.
According to a survey done by the NMIS University, 36 per cent will use it as a second TV. They are also willing to pay Rs 1000 for such a service.

They are willing to use the mobile to watch television for 75 minutes every day. At the moment though globally no commercial launch has happened. There are several trials going on currently. News, sitcoms and cricket are the genres that are expected to fare well on this medium, Unadkat added.


2/26/2008

Tata Elxsi showcases broadcast solutions at BES 2008

The Systems Integration Division of Tata Elxsi showcases its leading portfolio of broadcast solutions at BES 2008. The complex yet cost and time-saving solutions from Tata Elxsi, India’s most experienced Systems Integrator, will support customers across broadcast segments, including advanced advertising, professional online/on-air/print weather, news & sports systems, 24/7 business compliance logging, contemporary archive & asset management, intelligent digital storage, networking & media management, and digital content creation, animation & VFX.

“Backed by over 15 years of systems integration experience, a network of 15 offices in India, and global alliances, the Systems Integration Division of Tata Elxsi has successfully enabled several of India’s leading broadcasters, smoothing their journey from legacy setups to unified, world class broadcast environments”, said Rakesh Solomon, Manager-Broadcast Solutions Group, Tata Elxsi.

Tata Elxsi will also showcase its leadership in R&D and product development for Digital TV and Mobile TV technologies at BES 2008.

Tata Elxsi's hybrid set top box reference solution receives broadcast TV via satellite (DVB-S) and provides interactivity via IP. The solution is highly customizable and portable with options to pick and choose features desired to be supported.

The mobile TV solution features a multi-standard software platform compliant with both OMA-BCAST and IPDC (CBMS) standards. The mobile TV software platform can be easily integrated to any portable/handheld device: Smart phone, PDA, personal media player, and so on. The solution has undergone extensive field trials globally in addition to India trials. Devices based on Tata Elxsi's mobile TV platform are expected to be launched to coincide with the rollout of mobile TV services in India and abroad.

"We offer a unique mix of complete Product Solutions ready for productization along with a rich basket of engineering support services, addressing various pre-production and post-production stages of the product life cycle. Our customers leverage this proposition by bringing out differentiated products with faster time to market", said Nitin Pai, Head-Worldwide Marketing, Tata Elxsi.

10/24/2007

Zee Moots Concept Of Universal Broadcaster For Mobile TV In India; Wants MediaFLO Barred

The Zee group has come out all guns blazing on the issue of allocation of licenses and spectrum for Mobile TV in India. The group has told the TRAI in comments submitted on Mobile TV that just having the capability to transmit TV content doesn’t mean that Telecom operators do not need a license for media sector services. Zee has mooted the concept of a Universal Broadcaster, allowing existing broadcasters to offer Mobile TV, making the case for DTH operators like Zee’s Dish TV to be automatically permitted to extend their transmission to mobiles and be granted spectrum. “Universal Access Service License (UASL) licensees” (like telcos), says Zee, should need a separate “Universal Broadcaster License”. In addition, licenses should be awarded only to those companies with a minimum of 10 years experience in running channels of all genres, with an experience of a minimum of three years of operating an encrypted Pay TV service in India. I think that rules out everyone apart from Zee.

Zee has also asked for Qualcomm’s MediaFLO to be barred since India has been following the DVB standards, and no spectrum for Telecom or WiMax operators. The group has advocated the use of terrestrial spectrum only, and that DTH operators be granted terrestrial transmitters so as to use both satellite frequencies and terrestrial transmission. In terms of Foreign Direct Investment into the mobile TV segment, Zee wants it to be in line with DTH operators—49% Foreign Equity Cap for the company, of which no more than 20% from any foreign investor in DTH Services—thus ruling out telcos, which have a 74 percent limit. Sony (NYSE: SNE) Entertainment Television (SET) however, wants 100 percent FDI to be allowed.

10/23/2007

India : Cellular operators urge Govt. to go slow on Mobile TV

Cellular operators in the country have asked the Government to go slow on devising regulations on Mobile TV, saying that the technology is "nascent" and the customer behaviour still uncertain.

"This is a nascent business and therefore, no decision should be taken which will restrict the development of the market or foreclose technological options," the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has told the telecom and broadcast regulator TRAI.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had last month issued a consultation paper for the stakeholders on issues relating to mobile television.

"Various technology solutions are being tested in the global marketplace. It is also important to recognise that customer behaviour and demands are also evolving," the operators said.
Mobile TV essentially uses DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast to Hand-held devices) technology for broadcasting content on mobile handsets, or any DVB-H enabled devices such as palmtops, gaming devices or laptops.

However, other technology options for Mobile TV are also available such as 3G, MediaFLO, T-DMB, and S-DMB.

So far, only Doordarshan has announced its foray into using DVB-H technology on its terrestrial networks. Other telecom and broadcasters are also planning to enter the new media platform.
The operators pointed out that the popularity of I-pods has enabled the customers to download TV or video content to a PC and then transfer it to a mobile device for viewing later on.
"This time-shifting and location-shifting potential is obviously similar in some ways to a Mobile TV proposition," the COAI said, adding the technology will retain a distinctive niche in its ability to provide time-critical content, such as news and sports anywhere, anytime.

"How the customers would react and willing to pay for these propositions is uncertain and it needs to be tested in each market," the operators said in their recommendations sent to the regulator.

Seeking views of the stakeholders, TRAI had said a range of issues pertaining to the new media platform needed to be addressed before its full rollout.
These issues include the preferred technology for mobile television service, whether to use satellite or terrestrial broadcast system, the spectrum requirements for analogue, Digital and Mobile TV terrestrial broadcasting and the methodology to be adopted for frequency spectrum allocation.

The issues also included examining the prevailing international practice, eligibility criteria for the player, net-worth requirement, foreign direct and indirect investment levels, technology to be adopted, license fee, revenue sharing, entry fees and bank guarantee.

 
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