Mobile DTV Alliance Formed to Promote Best Practices for DVB-H Standard

This lays the technological groundwork for a potential future in which consumers can gain access to content outside the walled garden provided by their service providers, although the likelihood of this happening is still very much in question. "It’s true from a technology standpoint that this would be outside of or layered on top of the existing mobile operators’ data networks, but there’s going to have to be very tight integration between handsets and the broadcast technology."

And since consumers nearly always purchase their phones in conjunction with their service plans and the mobile operators subsidize the upfront costs of these phones, it’s unlikely that this potential openness will occur any time soon. "I don’t think with a lucrative market like video that they’ll let this get away from them," says Donovan. "They view themselves as cable companies."

Looking Ahead
As DVB-H rolls out across the U.S., consumers should expect to receive a TV-like experience that also includes an audio-only element. "I would expect right now that you should get approximately ten to 20 channels of streaming video requiring approximately 300Kbps each, plus quite a few audio channels," says Solomon, "Overall, I expect carriers to have 5-12MHz of spectrum allocated to this."

The DVB-H standard and subsequent technological implementations will also likely show up in other mobile content consumption devices. "It’s going to cover every type of mobile device including laptops," says Solomon. For the time being, however, the primary focus is on the mobile phone market, primarily because of the sheer number of units out there relative to even the most popular handheld devices, including the iPod.

All that said, DVB-H does not have a clear and unobstructed path towards becoming the dominant standard in the U.S., as a competing technology is already in the works with significant investment behind it. "Qualcomm, which makes chips and provides the core guts for many handsets, has dedicated $800 million to form a subsidiary called MediaFlow, which is going to roll out an offering that will compete directly with the Alliance," says Donovan. (MediaFlow’s capabilities and how it’s positioned as a competing technology will be explored in more depth in a future article on StreamingMedia.com.)

A Role to Play
The Mobile DTV Alliance hopes to play a major role in encouraging the accelerated deployment of the DVB-H standard in the U.S. One way in which it plans to do so is through the formulation of a reference diagram that will help ensure that all equipment manufacturers and service providers are on the same page. "We will create a diagram that shows the delivery of content from end to end through the silicon, through the DRM. It’s not going to be a specification, but it’s going to define the different parts and parameters to choose so that everybody builds components that are equivalent," says Solomon.

"We will also most likely create an interoperability program that will certify products. This program will ensure that the different components, from broadcast to the phones themselves, will be interoperable with each other. This will reduce a lot of risk for the operators as they transition to the DVB-H standard," Solomon says.

While the Alliance currently has six founding members, it will begin inviting new members to join on March 1. "Anyone who’s supportive of DVB-H in the U.S. that can contribute to and benefit from this alliance will be welcome to join," says Solomon. "This is an open alliance and there are no restrictions on who can and cannot become members." For further information on how to join, check out the Alliance’s site in the coming weeks as that information becomes available.