DoCoMo in FOMA video trials

NTT DoCoMo and PacketVideo have developed technology that will provide live video streaming to customers of DoCoMo's forthcoming FOMA 3G service.

Developed in partnership with PacketVideo of the US, the Japanese telco's FOMA Live-Video Distribution Platform, uses MPEG-4 streaming technology, which DoCoMo claims will enable it to stream video to wireless handhelds as well as compliant handsets.

The company said it will set up a consortium of 32 organisations to conduct trials of the technology. The group also will develop and study new applications for the video delivery system and will determine whether the service is marketable. The field trials will start on 1st October and run through until next year.

FOMA, or Freedom of Mobile multimedia Access, is DoCoMo's name for its 3G service. Already active in a few test sites in Japan, FOMA has achieved data delivery speeds of 384kbps compared to current wireless access speed of 9.6kbps.