Vodafone, Telefónica, Orange, and 3UK Report Successful Results from TDtv Trial with IPWireless and MobiTV
Vodafone, Telefónica, Orange, and 3UK Report Successful Results from TDtv Trial with IPWireless and MobiTV
MBMS-Based Mobile TV Solution Leverages Existing 3G Spectrum To Deliver Broadcast Level
Barcelona, Spain, February 12, 2007 - Vodafone, Telefónica, Orange, and 3UK today announced the results of their successful joint technical trial of TDtv. TDtv is the UMTS TD-CDMA-3GPP Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services (MBMS) standard for mobile television solutions. The trial provided valuable insights into the technology's capability and successfully demonstrated how existing spectrum can be used to deliver mobile television and other multimedia services.
The participants are now discussing next steps and exploring how the findings from the trial could be used to develop commercial models.
Key Trial Results
- Reliable delivery of mobile TV services using TDtv technically viable
- Up to 11 to 14 high quality channels can be delivered in 5MHz of TDD spectrum
- Coverage comparable to WCDMA but using fewer cell sites
- Performance consistent when moving at speed
- Dual mode handset viable
The TDtv trial, announced in October 2006, aspired to test key performance and deployment aspects of the mobile TV technology. Covering a large area of Bristol in the UK using only 12 macro-cell sites, the trial proved that the technology has the ability to offer reliable television delivery at the data rates that are needed to provide high quality mobile TV services.
The trial showed that eleven high quality channels could be delivered across the service area, with the potential to deliver up to fourteen channels with planned future technology developments. Significant coverage gains were demonstrated when using key TDtv performance enhancement technologies including macro site combining and receive diversity in the user device. The gains from these technologies demonstrated in the trial indicate that TDtv may be able to provide the same coverage as WCDMA when deployed on 35% of the WCDMA sites.
TDtv also proved its ability to perform at motorway speeds during the trial, allowing it to address a wide range of use cases such as when travelling on a train.
Initial coexistence testing to explore the simultaneous operation of 3G FDD and TDD also proved the theoretical viability of a dual mode WCDMA/TDtv handset.
Finally, the TDtv network also proved very reliable with 99.999% availability during the trial.
Professor Michael Walker, Director of Research and Development at Vodafone said: "Trials are an extremely important part of our strategic product development and help us build a comprehensive understanding of how the technologies work and the customer experience they will offer. The outcome of this trial will help us evaluate the commercial potential of TDtv as part of the MBMS assessments we are undertaking."
"The TDtv trial in Bristol has proven the ability to effectively use our unused TDD spectrum for a wide variety of Mobile Broadcast Services and the potential of a SFN deployment to support impressive coverage gains," said Cayetano Lluch Mesquida, Managing Director, Technology and Services, Telefónica Móviles España. " Nevertheless, we would like to see the next steps taken to ensure a wide variety of terminals and interoperable services are available for the platform."
Vivek Badrinath, Executive Vice President, IT Networks and Product Support, Orange said: "We are committed to fuelling the growth of mobile TV by ensuring our customers are offered the best quality and content now and in the future. The TDtv trial forms an important part of our research into potential technology solutions for the future, equally important is the collaboration of other industry players, who are now working together to learn and build from our shared experiences."
David Cooper, 3UK CTO said: "3 is pleased to support this initiative. The results of this first trial demonstrate TDtv has the potential to deliver a mass market Mobile TV solution. As the first network to launch a 3G services in Europe, we're always looking at ways to develop the service we offer customers."
About TDTV
TDtv is the 3GPP MBMS solution that 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 utilise their existing spectrum to offer subscribers attractive mobile TV and multimedia packages without impacting other voice and data 3G services, which use the universal paired 3G spectrum. The technology also allows mobile operators to use network sharing to significantly reduce Capex and further improve the business case for mobile TV.
TDtv enables mobile operators to deliver multiple TV channels to an unlimited number of concurrent 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.
About the trial
TDtv base stations provided by IPWireless were deployed to deliver broadcast services to TDtv enabled smart phones. MobiTV, Inc., the international mobile and broadband television services company, provided the client application, as well as facilitated the mobile content and media delivery components of the trial. Roke Manor Research, a trusted and capable independent technology assessor for the mobile industry developed and implemented the test plan and published results for the trial.
Because 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 allowed the operators to assess the coexistence of TDtv channels with neighbouring TD-CDMA and WCDMA networks.
About IPWireless
IPWireless develops advanced next generation mobile broadband and multimedia technology based on global standards. The company's TD-CDMA technology has emerged as a leading global standard for wireless broadband, allowing operators and public safety agencies to offer a spectrum of completely mobile, portable, or stationary end-to-end packet-based services with unmatched economics and performance. Its TD-CDMA-based TDtv solution allows mobile operators to offer mobile television and other multimedia services in existing spectrum. TD-CDMA has the highest average sector capacity, the strongest cell edge performance, and the lowest cost per megabit of any standards-based mobile technology available today, and is deployed by leading operators around the world. The IPWireless Partner Program and chipsets allow device manufacturers and infrastructure vendors to very quickly bring innovative new TD-CDMA solutions to market. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ipwireless.com
About MobiTV
MobiTV, Inc. (www.mobitv.com) is leading the convergence of television, film and music content across the mobile and personal computing markets. The Emmy® Award winning service has more than one million subscribers and offers popular TV and digital radio channels from top labels, networks and cable providers. The MobiTV® service is available in; the US through AT&T, Sprint, Cingular, Alltel; the UK through 3UK and Orange; in Canada through Bell Canada, Rogers and TELUS Mobility; in Latin America through América Móvil, Claro and Telcel; and other regional carriers internationally. Founded in 1999, MobiTV is a privately-held company headquartered in Emeryville, CA.
About Roke Manor Research
Roke, based in Romsey, Hampshire, UK, is an innovative solutions provider and contract R&D specialist. It pioneers developments in electronic sensors, networks and communications technology, providing products and services to Siemens businesses, Government departments and commercial customers. Roke is owned by Siemens which provides innovative solutions to help tackle the world's major challenges, including the shortage of natural resources, increasing environmental care and a growing demand for healthcare, mobility and security. Siemens' revenues in 2006 were £3.5 billion and the company spent £75 million on research and development. For more information, visit www.roke.co.uk.
About 3
3 is a mobile media company delivering a convergence of communications, entertainment and information to customers on the move. The three areas which form the core of its business are:
- Communications - including all forms of personal communications, voice and video calling; text, picture and video messaging; and mobile blogging
- Entertainment - including television, music audio and video, computer games, and media publishing
- Information services - including wireless web, access to the best of the internet and a range of news services
3 UK is a member of the HWL group of 3G companies, which include 3G operations in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Sweden and soon Norway.
Three facts about 3:
For further information, please visit: www.three.co.uk or call the 3 Media Office on 020 7350 5696.
About Orange
Orange, wirefree and any other Orange product or service referred to in this release are trademarks of Orange Personal Communications Services Limited. Orange UK provides high quality coverage to 99% of the UK population, and offers roaming to pay monthly customers on 357 networks in 148 countries and to pay as you go customers on 94 networks in 53 countries. As at the end of March 2005, Orange was the largest mobile operator in the UK with over 14.3 million active customers. As at the end of December 2004, Orange controlled companies had almost 54 million customers worldwide. In October 2004, Orange UK won the Mobile Choice Consumer Awards - voted for by readers of Mobile Choice magazine - for Best Network Operator for the fourth year running. Information about Orange can be found on the Orange website at www.orange.co.uk and media information can be found atwww.orange.com
About Telefónica Móviles
Telefónica Móviles España (www.empresa.movistar.es) is the mobile operator of Telefónica in the Spanish market. As of June 2006, Telefónica Móviles España had almost 20.7 million customers and a wide catalogue of services and applications with the latest mobile technology, such as UMTS. Movistar is the brand for the mobile companies of Telefónica Group in Spain and Latin America with exception of Brazil.
About Vodafone
Vodafone is the world's leading international mobile telecommunications group with equity interests in 25 countries across 5 continents as at 31 December 2006, as well as 35 partner networks. By the end of January, Vodafone announced it had over 200 million proportionate customers worldwide. For further information, please visit www.vodafone.com.
- 3 has over 3.75 million customers in the UK and over 13.5 million worldwide (August 2006 figures)
- The 3 network offers national coverage for calls and texts, and over 89% population coverage for 3G services.
