mobile TV revenues
Expanding Revenue
Opportunities with
Mobile Content
Despite the economic downturn there are
still many opportunities for operators to
make money from mobile entertainment
services. Mobile video and TV present such
openings says Bob Kulakowski, Chief
Technology Office at Verimatrix
As video content becomes more quality of service (QoS). In other
diverse and ubiquitous, today’s words, they are able to maximise
pay-TV operators must adapt their the content throughput for a
service offerings and operations to given broadcast channel
rising subscriber expectations. bandwidth (e.g. a satellite
Users increasingly wish to have transponder may have a known
access to content away from total throughput of 55 Mbit/s).
home, and on multiple devices Techniques such as statistical
within the home supported by a multiplexing are used to leverage
whole-home digital video recorder dynamic changes in video content
(DVR). These are trends no pay-TV characteristics. “Demanding”
service provider can afford to video content, such as sports, will
ignore. If the pay-TV offering be allocated more bits per second Overcoming the Pioneered by Move Networks
remains limited to the set-top box (more bandwidth) then the less ‘unmanageable QoS’ obstacle (HQ: American Fork, Utah), with
(STB) and living room TV, demanding, such as “talking An emerging technology called major broadcasters such as ABC,
operators risk losing eyeballs and heads.” This is monitored and adaptive rate streaming detects a Fox and Televisa among its
revenue to alternative sources of recalculated second-by-second, viewer’s available bandwidth prior customers, the technology concept
information and entertainment. while the total throughput to streaming, and then streams is now being adapted by industry
Service convergence has remains constant. video at a quality consistent with heavyweights such as Adobe,
become a market-driven Radical developments are the so determined throughput to Microsoft and Apple (albeit with a
imperative representing an upside now taking place that both available bandwidth, or so variety of different technical
opportunity for innovative service threaten the traditional pay-TV determined bandwidth. details). The explosion in both
providers to expand revenues and operators as gate keepers and This results in very little sheer numbers and in applications
differentiate service offerings. open new opportunities to widen buffering and associated delay to of the iPhone and other smart
Maximising the monetisation of the revenue base beyond the start watching. Some phone devices is substantially
content across a multi-network, managed network. The rapid implementations check the driven by video, and the iPhone
multi-screen delivery environment proliferation of broadband, and achieved throughput regularly, 3.0 OS has now included built-in
becomes the key challenge. video in all forms over the open and will switch to higher or lower support for adaptive rate
Fortunately, the technology Internet and mobile devices, are bit rates as necessary, thus streaming. With a variety of
behind pay-TV delivery services is the drivers. Until fairly recently, adapting the quality continuously. standards for mobile broadcasting
evolving to keep pace with the though, the video quality has not Application of good heuristic (such as DVB-H, FLO, ISDBT and
new market dynamics. posed a real threat to typical implementations of these DMB), and various
pay-TV. Even though Internet- approaches virtually eliminates telecommunications network
Pay-TV in managed networks wide QoS has not yet been stream stuttering and other QoS standards (e.g. 3G/4G, WiMAX
Traditionally, pay-TV operators achieved, innovation in delivery issues that have plagued internet and WiFi), it is clear that a
offer services over managed protocols is moving rapidly to video delivery, particularly to dynamic approach to video is
networks with a guaranteed compensate. mobile devices. required since bandwidths may
content2mobile 6 september 2009
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