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IPWireless Announces Sprint Nextel Investment and TDtvTMCnet Communications and Broadband Columnist
This is a big day for IPWireless as it announces the additional $10 million strategic investment by Sprint Nextel and a new solution enabling mobile operators to leverage existing unpaired 3G spectrum to take advantage of the demand for mobile TV and other mobile multimedia.
TDtv, which is designed to combine the performance advantages of IPWireless’ commercial UMTS TD-CDMA solution and the newly defined 3GPP Release 6 Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Standard (MBMS), is positioned to offer operators a number of significant strategic, performance and economic advantages over alternative Mobile TV solutions. According to Informa, in just five years, there will be more broadcast mobile TV users worldwide – 124.8 million – than there are standard TV homes in the US – 110 million. Already, operators around the world have committed to pilot the TDtv solution in the first half of 2006.
UMTS operators will be able to fully utilize their existing spectrums and base stations with TDtv. Utilizing the universal paired 3G spectrum bands that are available across Europe and Asia at 1900MHz and 2010MHz, TDtv allows operators to provide subscribers mobile TV and multimedia packages without impacting other voice and data 3G services.
Using TDtv, UMTS operators will be able to deliver up to 50 channels of TV for standard mobile phone screens or 15 higher quality QVGA channels. Twice the number of channels will be available or increases in the quality of service for operators possessing 10MHz of spectrum in any of the bands supported.
By leveraging MBMS, TDtv allows for an infinite number of customers to watch the same channel or use the same network bandwidth. Digital audio or other IP data cast services can also be available to customers as service enhancements.
TDtv is also designed to seamlessly integrate with WCDMA systems on both the network and device side. TDtv base stations can be co-sited on existing WCDMA sites without additional regulatory issues. Billing and other back office integration is made simple as the solution integrates with WCDMA at the core network level.
The two networks can operate together in unison by utilizing the Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BMSC).
Essentially, TDtv provides single device sourcing for UMTS operators that have universal spectrum across multiple properties. TDtv eliminates the need to acquire new frequencies or partner with broadcasters thus leaving the control of customer service and revenues in the hands of the UMTS operator.
The investment by Sprint Nextel is in addition to the $4 million invested by the company in July of 2005. The investment comes as a result of the current trials that Sprint Nextel has engaged with IPWireless’ UMTS TD-CDMA technology in the Washington D.C. area. The trials focus on broadband access for laptops, desktops or PDAs; backhaul for enterprise campus; and a wide variety of Wireless Interactive Multimedia Services like video-streaming, online gaming, document collaboration and video-conferencing.
According to Barry West, chief technology officer at Sprint Nextel, the company believes that UMTS TD-CDMA technology holds great promise as a next generation platform for operators globally, especially for both Mobile Broadband and Mobile TV applications and Sprint Nextel is pleased to make the additional investment.
Entertainment on the go and at our fingertips is on the rise. It will no longer be necessary for us to know exactly where we’ll be when our favorite show will be on. Could this hurt the future prospects of such devices like TiVo? Doubtful as mobile TV appears to be targeting a different niche in the market. As television content on the mobile phone is expected to continue to be a hot topic, we’ll most likely see as much come out against its use in certain areas.
Mobility Summit
Fixed-mobile convergence is no longer a matter of “if” but “when” and although projections vary on timing, everyone knows the it is now inevitable. How can service providers capitalize on it? What do enterprises and end-users to need to do to prepare for it? Be sure to attend the Mobility Summit taking place at INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & Expo, EAST, which runs January 24-27, 2006, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMC and has also written for eastbiz.com. To see more of her articles, please visit Susan J. Campbell’s columnist page.
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