Has the current global economic depression killed Mobile TV?
By Ben Robinson on Friday, May 15th, 2009 at 4:28 PM PST In Mobile TV, Multimedia
Well, I am kind of wondering whether it might have. As has been the subject of past posts I have written, my feeling is that Mobile (Broadcast) TV was in a very precarious state, even before the recent economic woes came upon us.
Now that all IT companies (Operators, Vendors, Service Providers) are feeling the pinch, as are customers, the last thing they are likely to spend out on is Mobile TV infrastructure for broadcast services. Handsets vendors are also not making many (if any) Mobile TV handsets.
With the likes of 3GPP-ratified LTE just around the corner, you have got to wonder if there if any life left in the the ol’ dog – I am beginning to think that since the less-than-stellar performance of Mobile TV (compared to some other services), Operators in particular are giving it a rest for the moment until 4G comes bounding along with it’s huge speeds (capable of delivering lots of good-quality video).
What do you think? Is Mobile TV dead in it’s current form? Is the future side-loading video from home plus some downloads, or is there an as-yet-unproven delivery system waiting in the wings? Comments welcome!
we are actually in a recession not depression, we are far froma depression!!
Agreed, people are skipping Wimax for LTE.
The June spectrum release will unleash mobile tv phones onto the market, Qualcomm will shine with its mobile TV offering.
OMVC (the coalition of all the tv broadcasters) will be unveiling mobile tv on buses, trains, netbooks, cellphones ——Dell, LG and others are producing mobile tv devices as we speak.
Ben lets see where all this shakes out by Thanksgiving/Christmas.
Is it inevitable? yes, when? 2012 is my prediction to go mainstream… (i.e. +25% penetration)