Operators missing out on key route to market, company argues
Operators using only WAP portals to deliver TV services may be missing a simpler and easier way to boost usage and revenues. Using 3G’s dedicated 64kbit channel to send video data over the 3G circuit switched nature meets consumer needs of ease of access and interactivity, and operator needs for increased data revenues, Radvision’s general manager of mobility and service provider business, Alon Barnea, has told Mobile Europe
Radvision has developed a platform which takes feeds live TV streams out to 3G mobile phones using the native 324m protocol on the phones. There is no need for clients on the handset, or for users to browser to a WAP portal. Users simply call a number and start watching. Barnea says that the dedicated 64Kbit channel that 3G provides is perfectly adequate for a quality viewing experience. Radvision has built an interactive video portal that translates and delivers the data, as well as how the channels are displayed and accessed from the phone.
Barnea argued that the possibilities for interaction are manifold, with a possibly example being in an adult environment where users can take a live session into a private chat room. 3 Austria is using the interactive video portal for one adult service and to provide access to web cams at ski stations, so users can see what skiing conditions are like. It is charging around €.39 per minute for users to call the service.
In Israel, Orange is using the portal to provide a live TV blogging service. Users are sending their own live video pictures over 3G to a website, where others interact.
Another use of the technology, in a product Radvision has launched today, is PC to mobile videoconferencing. A PC user can download and application that allows them to set up a video call to a 3G mobile from their home PC. The call from the PC is routed through a server in the mobile operator network out to the mobile user, who is billed for the call. Barnea sayd that such a service offers the potential to open up video conferencing to 3G users who have previously been hampered by the fact that to make a 3G video call both parties needed the appropriate handsets.
Radvision is currently talking to operators about both concepts, Barnea said.
“We’re not asking them to choose between one approach or the other,” he said, “this is complementary to WAP and other strategies.”
The Israeli company points out that its technology is pre-SIP and IMS, but is in IMS labs now, and will be compatible with the coming video over IP services.
“Voice over IP took three years until it could provide a quality that users were willing to pay for,” Barnea said. “Video will take at least two to get to that stage.”
But in the meantime, using the circuit switched data channel built into the 3G specification, plus the 342m format, could provide a way for operators to start to offer live TV and interactive video services to users, Barnea argued.