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Results from pilots on broadcast (DVB-H) mobile TV services amongst consumers in Finland, the UK, Spain and France have revealed clear consumer demand for such services as well as important indications over future business models for commercial mobile TV services. Each of the pilots involved broadcasts of live digital TV content over DVB-H networks to the Nokia 7710 smartphone.
Consumer demand for mobile TV:
- In Oxford, UK – 83% of participants were satisfied with the service and over three quarters (76%) said they would take up the service within 12 months.
- In France – 68% said they would pay for mobile TV services.
- In Spain – 55% were willing to do so as well. Nearly 75% of Spanish participants would recommend the service to friends and family.
Pricing Models:
The most popular pricing model to emerge is a monthly subscription for a package of channels. In the Helsinki pilot, half of those that took part thought €10 per month was a reasonable price to pay, while in France, 68% were willing to pay €7 per month for mobile TV services.
Viewing Patterns:
- The UK results reveal a lunchtime viewing peak higher than the normal TV pattern.
- In France, participants watched mobile TV for 20 minutes on average per day with early morning, lunchtime and mid evening.
- The Spanish pilot also reveals mobile TV viewing spread throughout the day with early evening representing peak viewing.
- Interesting aspect of all the pilots was that many users watched mobile TV within their homes.
Content
The overwhelming message from these pilots is that consumers want both a wide range of channels but also content that is suitable for watching on mobile devices. The most popular types of content were news, sports, music, soaps and documentaries. Interactivity was also an important functionality.
DVB-H technology allows TV channels to be distributed effectively to mobile devices. It provides the best user experience in the mobile environment with excellent, broadcast quality picture, reduced battery consumption and wide range of channels (up to 50 channel are possible). Nokia will bring the Nokia N92 device together with Nokia’s Mobile Broadcast Solution 3.0 network elements to the market in summer 2006.
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
