By: Ben Robinson, IntoMobile Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 1:02 PM
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) is poised to launch Mobile TV next month, signalling just how far the pervading influence of this service is spreading globally. MTNL will initially have 21 channels on their platform.
With Mobile TV, slowly but surely, we are witnessing the mobilization of what was a “lean-back”, in-home service, in to a “watch anywhere, anytime” on-demand service. In some countries, as has been the case with simple voice calls, we may well even see the consumption of TV primarily via the mobile (data) medium, rather than via a cable/satellite system. Will the day ever come when broadcast is dead?
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career
when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has
now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the
next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas!
He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently
became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years
when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to
'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make
your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device)
isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question
of why you continue to use it...
His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and
infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the
occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience
in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with
regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
James
Any idea what system they are using? Is this a streaming over 3G “mobile TV” service, or a real “mobile TV” service using some broadcast system like DVB-H?