Mobile TV: Femtocells, Sideloading Could Threaten 3G And Dedicated Broadcasting Networks

A recent study by Analysys Mason concludes that unless 3G networks and dedicating mobile broadcasting networks embrace femtocell and sideloading delivery methods, the initial two mobile TV technologies could be in jeopardy. 3G networks deliver mobile broadcasts and video-on-demand over individual 3G connections, but is only really cost efficient when the number of users is relatively small. Broadcasting networks such as MediaFLO and DVB-H don't have the capacity problems of 3G networks but as of yet no standard broadcast format has gone global nor has a common bandwidth spectrum been allocated. Plus broadcast networks completely control what mobile TV viewers are able to watch.
While developers continue to work on these two technologies, the study pointed out that trials of the DVB-H broadcast standard have revealed that 36%-50% of mobile TV viewers actually watch at home even though their traditional TV is sitting right there. Indoor networks utilizing femtocells or WLAN networks could be a more effective method of streaming mobile video indoors taking the stress off of 3G networks and potentially streaming higher-quality video. Another effective indoor method is known as sideloading which is simply uploading video content that is possibly pre-recorded and not-time-critical onto your mobile phone for viewing at a later time. An example would be downloading a TV show from iTunes and then uploading it onto your iPhone. iTunes video is encoded at 1Mbit/sec whereas 3G video is encoded at 128Kbit/sec resulted in a huge improvement in video quality from sideloading the iTunes content.

Here are some interesting tidbits from the report:

Key findings of the new report include:

Trials of DVB-H services have shown significant indoor usage of mobile TV services, with 36-50% of participants using these services mainly at home. Indoor systems such as femtocells could successfully carry this traffic, potentially with higher quality than is achievable with outdoor 3G and broadcasting networks.

Sideloading can be a highly effective way of delivering content that is not time critical, such as pre-recorded TV programmes (for example soap operas, dramas, situation comedies and documentaries) and movies. Compared to other mobile TV distribution methods, sideloading can provide guaranteed reliability in any location, with very high quality. For example, video content available on iTunes for Apple iPods and iPhones is encoded at a data rate of over 1Mbit/s, compared with 128kbit/s for some 3G services.

MNOs that are unable to deploy broadcasting networks could potentially deliver a compelling proposition without filling up the capacity of their 3G networks. If 75% of mobile TV content was delivered using sideloading and 60% of streamed content was consumed indoors, then 3G networks would need to carry just 10% of total mobile TV traffic.

May 26, 2008

Mobile TV: Femtocells, Sideloading Could Threaten 3G And Dedicated Broadcasting Networks