Joint testing of mobile TV using existing 3G spectrum

October 11, 2006

3UK, Orange, Telefonica, and Vodafone announce the launch of a technical trial of TDtv, the UMTS TD-CDMA-3GPP Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services (MBMS) standard-based solution. The trial is expected to provide valuable insights for mobile operators into the potential of using their existing spectrum and infrastructure to deliver mobile television and other multimedia services.

The TDtv trial, which is scheduled to run to the end of the year, will test key performance and deployment aspects of the mobile TV technology. TDtv base stations provided by IPWireless have been deployed on 12 cell sites covering parts of Bristol in the UK to provide broadcast services to TDtv enabled smart phones. MobiTV, Inc., the international mobile and broadband television services company, will provide the client application, as well as facilitate the mobile content and operational components of the trial.

TDtv operates in the universal unpaired 3G spectrum bands that are available across Europe and Asia at 1900MHz and 2010MHz. It allows UMTS operators to further utilize their existing spectrum and network infrastructure to offer subscribers attractive mobile TV and multimedia packages without impacting other voice and data 3G services.

TDtv enables mobile operators to deliver multiple TV channels to an unlimited number of customers. Mobile operators deploying TDtv would also be able to deliver digital audio, multicast, or other IP data cast services to enhance their service offerings to customers.

David Cooper, Chief technology Officer of 3 UK, said: "3 UK is pleased to participate in this trial as part of its quest to understand more about the different mobile TV broadcast solutions. This fits in with our business strategy of always ensuring that our customers have access to the best services possible."

"It is encouraging to have so much industry interest and support in this exciting trial," said Vivek Badrinath, Executive Vice President, Product Technology and Innovation, Orange. "We believe that it is important that leading service and content providers work together to examine options for future mobile TV platforms and pave the way for an enhanced customer experience and new era of mobile TV."

"This experience forms part of the evaluation procedure being developed by Telefonica to assess the different technologies available on the market capable of supporting Mobile TV services," said Cayetano Lluch Mesquida, Managing Director, Technology and Services, Telefonica Moviles Espana. "The development of multi-operator trial systems across Europe should be a stimulus for the evaluation, standardisation and development of new technologies."

Professor Michael Walker, Director of Research and Development at Vodafone said: "Trials are an extremely important part of our strategic product development. In the case of mobile TV, there are a number of technologies emerging that must be fully explored so that we have a comprehensive understanding of how the technologies work and the experience they will offer. Currently the most interesting technologies are the variants of MBMS and DVB-H and this trial forms part of the MBMS assessments we are undertaking."

As TDtv is based on the 3GPP family of standards, integration of TDtv with WCDMA on both the network and device side is simplified. Jointly testing TDtv will allow the operators to assess the coexistence of TDtv channels with neighbouring TD-CDMA and WCDMA networks.