DigiTAG

Web Letter

April 2009

DigiTAG seeks to inform members and non-members about important developments in the digital terrestrial television market. Each month, DigiTAG distributes its web letter with news updates and further exploration of one topic.

To subscribe to the DigiTAG Web Letter, send an email to the DigiTAG Project Office.

Can mobile TV work?

Mobile TV was a hot topic at NAB this year. Following the adoption of the Mobile DTV specification by the ATSC (previously known as ATSC M/H), plans are underway in the United States to roll-out services in 27 television markets, covering 38% of the population, by the end of the year. Broadcasters will use a portion of their 19 Mbit/s broadcast channels, already used to supply HD and SD television to fixed antennas, in order to deliver free-to-air mobile services. The quality and number of services will vary between markets.

The head of NAB, David Rehr, is confident that the provision of free-to-air broadcast services on a handheld device will appeal to viewers and allow broadcasters to benefit from the “billions of dollars in mobile advertising revenue and billions of dollars in mobile search revenues” available. NAB expects that 130 million phones and 25 million media players will be able to receive mobile television by 2012 which will allow, according to a further study, for broadcasters to reap incremental revenue of more than $2 billion after 2012.

But are these figures overly optimistic? Early ventures into mobile television in Europe have not proven to be overwhelmingly successful, hampered by low subscription figures, lack of appealing receivers, and disagreements over business models. In the United States, it is estimated that so far less than 1% of the 260 million mobile phone users subscribe to the mobile television service FLOtv. Only in Asia have services been arguably ‘successful’ with the adoption of a free-to-air business model.

Situation in Europe

In Europe, several countries have launched mobile television services using the DVB-H standard. Italy has generally been considered one of the most successful markets with nearly 1 million subscribers. However, take up has stagnated recently and telecom operators have limited their marketing of the service. One service provider, 3 Italia, recently made its DVB-H service available to certain subscribers for free.

Three smaller markets, Austria, the Netherlands, and Switzerland have also launched services in cooperation between telecom operators and broadcast network operators. In all three countries, viewers can access between 15-20 services for a cost varying between €3 – 10 per month. The most impressive subscription figures have been in Austria where one telecom operator, 3, has announced 90,000 subscribers for its DVB-H and UMTS mobile television services. The early success in Austria may be a result of its cooperative business model which obliged the winner of the DVB-H license to bring the other contenders into the business.

Other countries have attempted to launch services but have been beset by problems. In Finland, the network operator Digita has rolled out the DVB-H network but broadcasters have been reluctant to join the platform. At this stage, only four free-to-air services are available. In France, disagreement has erupted regarding the cost of the network roll-out and the business model to adopt. In Germany, mobile telecom operators who were not awarded the DVB-H license launched in competition mobile receivers capable of receiving free-to-air DVB-T services just prior to the launch of DVB-H services, thus effectively stifling the potential market for pay services.

Two mobile television services using DAB related technologies, T-DMB in Germany and DAB-IP in the United Kingdom, have both been discontinued due to a lack of subscribers. This can be attributed to an insufficient service offering and the lack of a sufficient variety of appealing receivers.

But the lukewarm success of mobile television in Europe has not dissipated enthusiasm. Plans are currently underway to launch services in several European markets from a newly launched satellite using the DVB-SH specification. To ensure full service availability in highly populated areas, it could be expected that DVB-SH will also transmit from the cellular terrestrial transmitters also in the S-Band. More recently, there have been proposals to provide terrestrial gap fillers also in the UHF television frequency band. Nonetheless, questions remain regarding business models, receiver costs and availabilities, and network roll-out.

Free-to-air model?

Based on experiences in Asia, it would seem that the provision of free-to-air mobile television services appeals to viewers. In Japan, there has been a very rapid take up on mobile television devices, and it is estimated that over 40% of mobile phones can access One Seg mobile television services, based on the ISDB-T standard. In South Korea, over 10 million receivers capable of receiving free-to-air T-DMB services have been sold compared with 1.3 million subscribers to the pay-mobile service via satellite, S-DMB.

However, questions remain where and when viewers are actually accessing the services. In Korea, estimates suggest that 40% of all devices sold are not handheld mobile receivers but rather in-car units used mainly to access data services such as traffic information. In Japan, it is not possible to access mobile television service in a moving vehicle or in the subway system thus limiting the possible viewing locations.

In both countries, broadcasters have not, as of yet, been able to generate additional revenue from the provision of free mobile television services. Broadcasters have generally shown reluctance in developing content specifically suited for mobile reception such as short clips with news, sports highlights, or music. For viewers, the simulcast of existing television services may lack appeal in a mobile environment. In Japan, however, the public service broadcaster NHK will launch a television service dedicated to mobile viewing this year.

One possible solution is to offer free-to-air services as a means of reaching a maximum number of viewers and generating revenue through the provision of ancillary services such as data services or video-on-demand. In the long term, it will likely be necessary to develop unique content for the mobile environment.

Competing technologies

The wide array of available standards for mobile TV services has made competition inevitable and served to limit service take-up. However, it also illustrates the general enthusiasm in the industry for mobile television services.

In Asia, launches have (or will) take place using the Japanese ISDB-T standard, the satellite and terrestrial DMB standards, and the Chinese T-MMB standard. In Europe, attempts have been made to launch services using T-DMB, DVB-H, DVB-T, and soon DVB-SH. In the United States, both MediaFLO and DVB-H technologies have been launched although the DVB-H services have been discontinued. The future launch of the ATSC’s Mobile DTV standard will further complicate the situation.

However, more important than the technology, will be finding an appropriate business model that can accommodate the needs of the market. Investors, whether broadcasters, telecom operators, or broadcast network operators, will want a return on their investment. But viewers will also need to be convinced that the mobile television offer is appealing. Finding a means to generate revenue, whether through subscriptions, ad revenue, or ancillary services, will require the interest of viewers. Only then will mobile television succeed.

Source: Natalie Mouyal, DigiTAG Project Office

About DigiTAG

DigiTAG aims to encourage and facilitate the implementation and introduction of digital terrestrial television services using the Digital Video Broadcasting Project's Standard (DVB-T). It has some 60 members from broadcasting, network operators, regulatory, and manufacturing organisations throughout Europe and beyond.

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DTT NEWS ROUND-UP

For access to the full articles archive, please go to DigiTAG News

Portugal - DTT services officially launched

Free-to-air DTT services have officially been launched by the DTT operator Portugal Telecom. Services are currently available to 40% of the population and will reach 80% of the population by the end of the year.

Viewers can access four services, RTP, RTP 2, SIC, and TVI, as well as RTP's regional services for the Azores and Madeira. The free-to-air platform will also include one HD service.

PT expects to launch its pay-DTT platform later in the year.

Source: PT website

Spain - DTT penetration over 50%

In its newsletter for the month of April, Impulsa TDT noted that 50.7% of television households access DTT services. Madrid and Catalonia have the highest DTT penetration levels, reaching 61% of the population.

DTT coverage has reached 93.5% of the population. A total of 17 million DTT receivers have been sold since the launch of services.

Source: Impulsa TDT

Croatia - OiV awarded DTT license

The communications regulator HAKOM has announced that it has awarded a 10-year license to operate two DTT multiplexes to the broadcast network operator OiV.

As per the license conditions, OiV will be required roll-out the DTT networks to 95% of the population. Digital switchover is expected to be completed by 1 January 2011.

Source: Hakom website

United Kingdom - Switch-off completed in West Country region

The broadcast network operator Arqiva has confirmed that analogue switch-off has been completed for the Beacon Hill transmitter group in the West Country region. Viewers in Torbay and south Devon are affected by the switch-off.

Analogue switch-off began on 8 April when one analogue channel, BBC Two, was switched off. The remaining three channels, BBC One, ITV1, and Channel 4, were switched off at 00:16 on 22 April.

Source: Arqiva press release

Italy - DTT penetration reaches 38%

According to figures published by DGTVi, 8.1 million television households rely on the DTT platform. This represents a penetration of 38%.

These figures also show that in the past year, 2.7 million households adopted the DTT platform.

At the end of February 2009, 9.84 million households were equipped with a DTT receiver. This represents an increase of 3.9 million compared with February 2009.

Source: DGTVi newsletter

Macedonia (fyr) - Telekom Slovenije to operate 3 DTT multiplexes

The Agency for Electronic Communications has officially granted Telekom Slovenije a 10-year license to operate the DTT platform. Telekom Slovenije had been the only license applicant.

According to the license conditions, Telekom Slovenije will invest €10 million in the roll-out of 3 DTT multiplexes and offer 30 television programme services. National coverage should be reached within one year of the service launch.

Telekom Slovenije is the incumbent telecom service provider in Slovenia.

Source: Broadband TV News

Lithuania - 29% growth in pay-DTT subscribers

The number of subscribers to TEO's pay-DTT service increased by 7800 in the period of January to March 2009. This represents a growth of 29%. The total number of subscribers to the pay-DTT service has now reached 34,000.

The pay-DTT service offered by TEO is marketed under the GALA brand, alongside its IPTV service.

DTT services were officially launched in March 2008 using the MPEG-4 AVC compression format. Viewers can access a mixture of pay and free-to-air services on four DTT multiplexes.

Coverage has attained nearly 95% of the population.