MBMS trial in UMTS TDD spectrum
Four European operators are combining to trial Mobile TV technology that is competitive to DVB-H, DMBand MediaFLO, the main potential technologies for broadcast mobile TV services.
3UK, Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone have launched a technical trial of TDtv, the UMTS TD-CDMA-3GPP Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services (MBMS) standard-based solution. The operators want to gain insights into the potential of using their existing spectrum and infrastructure to deliver mobile television and other multimedia services.
Orange announced in February this year that it would be looking at the technology, but the other operators are new to the trial.
TDtv operates in the universal unpaired 3G spectrum bands that are available across Europe and Asia at 1900MHz and 2010MHz. Its proponents argue that it allows UMTS operators to utilise their existing spectrum and network infrastructure to offer subscribers mobile TV and multimedia packages without impacting other voice and data 3G services.
Of course, using the unpaired spectrum and TD-CDMA does require network upgrades, as well as compatible end devices. TD-CDMA (or UMTS TDD) is used by certain operators at present (in Germany and New Zeanland, notably) to provide fixed wireless broadband services. Its uptake as a mobile broadband mobile technology has been limited, and TDtv represents a great hope to those involved in the technology, such as IP Wireless, that it can provide a compelling application for the service.
The operators involved lined up with their conviction that they need to be assessing the different technologies available for supporting mobile TV. But a four operator trial in Europe is far more than MediaFLO, say, has been able to announce so far.
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.”