Ben
20th May 2005, 03:11 AM
Mobile TV is going to happen, and it looks like we're going to get a taste of it from next week on Orange.
Orange are, for now, going to stream TV content over their 3G network, with an overhead of about 50mb per user per hour. Streaming video over the 3G network has the advantage of not requiring additional infrastructure construction and not requiring additional hardware on the handset. The disadvantage is that each user needs to be served individually, so in peak times the strain placed on the network could be enormous.
DVB-H, on the other hand, provides one-to-many TV content on mobile phones by broadcasting a separate TV signal just like we pick up on our TV's at home. The advantage of DVB-H is that it's massively more efficient when serving large numbers of people. The disadvantage is that handsets need extra hardware, and a whole new network of transmitters need to be constructed to deliver the signal.
The streaming cost from Orange is going to be £10 a month for 20 hours of viewing. The cost for delivering over DVB-H would probably be less.
Is the Orange way of doing mobile TV going to appeal to you? What's the right price for mobile TV? Do you think 3G or DVB-H is the best way of delivering streamed video content to mobiles?
Orange are, for now, going to stream TV content over their 3G network, with an overhead of about 50mb per user per hour. Streaming video over the 3G network has the advantage of not requiring additional infrastructure construction and not requiring additional hardware on the handset. The disadvantage is that each user needs to be served individually, so in peak times the strain placed on the network could be enormous.
DVB-H, on the other hand, provides one-to-many TV content on mobile phones by broadcasting a separate TV signal just like we pick up on our TV's at home. The advantage of DVB-H is that it's massively more efficient when serving large numbers of people. The disadvantage is that handsets need extra hardware, and a whole new network of transmitters need to be constructed to deliver the signal.
The streaming cost from Orange is going to be £10 a month for 20 hours of viewing. The cost for delivering over DVB-H would probably be less.
Is the Orange way of doing mobile TV going to appeal to you? What's the right price for mobile TV? Do you think 3G or DVB-H is the best way of delivering streamed video content to mobiles?