Syniverse Technologies announced today that Korea Telecom, said to be the country’s largest fixed-line operator and its second-largest mobile network operator, is deploying a new mobile video broadcast service that is interoperable across every 3G and 4G network and device, as well as PCs.
This solution allows any mobile user on any network around the globe the ability to receive a live video stream initiated by the mobile device of a KT subscriber –without requiring any new technology, software or application on the receiving mobile handset or PC. This unprecedented interoperability is delivered as part of KT’s new Show It offering and is enabled by Syniverse’s new white-label Mobile Video Broadcast Service for mobile operators, which completely eliminates the barriers that historically have existed for video communications services.
“Both consumers and the mobile industry have been readying themselves for mobile video communications for some time, but the key to unlocking widespread uptake is full-scale interoperability,” according to Tony Holcombe, President and CEO, Syniverse.
“Proprietary systems that only work within the walls of devices or networks have significantly limited the reach and adoption of mobile video communications, but research shows that consumers want ubiquitous video capabilities on their mobile devices as they look beyond communicating via voice, text, data, and photos,” Holcombe explained. “Our solution makes video communications available anywhere, anytime, regardless of network or device. Recipients don’t need any special downloads to view the video, and we perform on-the-fly dynamic transcoding to adapt screen resolution for each stream, optimizing performance for any network.”
KT began introducing the Show It service to smart phone subscribers in December 2010, giving them an unprecedented ability to share live, user-generated video broadcasts with anyone that has a data-enabled mobile device or an email address.
One of the primary benefits of the Syniverse Mobile Video Broadcast Service is that capturing and sharing a live stream with friends and family is as easy as sending a text message. For example, a KT subscriber can select the mobile phone numbers or email addresses of people to receive the live stream, just as one would normally select text message or email recipients. From there, a URL that connects recipients to the live video broadcast can be sent via SMS or email. Captured video also is archived temporarily to allow users to view it at a later time.
“There are strong indicators that consumers in some of the most technologically-advanced markets – such as South Korea and the United States – are looking for cross-screen video communication capabilities,” noted Mark Beccue, ABI Research. “The turning point for mass-market SMS and MMS adoption was when we achieved interoperability and consumers had the freedom to send and receive messages to and from anyone on any mobile network or device. For mobile video adoption to take off, we will need to see the same network-agnostic, device-agnostic interoperability.”
Syniverse President and CEO Tony Holcombe emphasized the company’s unique heritage of simplifying the complexity of disparate mobile network, roaming and messaging technologies to make mobile work.
“By bridging network, platform and device islands around the world, Syniverse made SMS work, anytime, anywhere. Then we did the same for MMS – in fact, our experts invented the industry’s first camera phone and sent the first MMS message,” Holcombe said. “Enabling interoperability for mobile video communications is a natural evolutionary move for us, and this broadcast solution is an important first step. As both one-way and two-way video become a go-to communications medium, Syniverse will be in our natural position at the center of it all, creating the connections to make it all work.”