FLO Forum President Letter & Mid-Year Update
In northern latitudes, the languid, sultry days of summer are in full swing and bring
with them images of vacationers lazing on sunny, sandy beaches. Yet, the world of FLO is abuzz with high accomplishment and high anticipation.
Leading FLO accomplishments include the recently concluded ESPN live coverage of FIFA World Cup 2010. FLO TV viewerships statistics include such highlights as: World Cup matches captured 40 – 80% of the FLO viewing audience; average daily viewership was measured as high as 41 minutes, with 20% of viewers in excess of 60 minutes; total viewership minutes were up a whopping 34% month-over-month May-June. These results underscore the value proposition for mobile broadcast television: to operators as an efficient low-cost delivery mechanism; for consumers as a convenient, compelling viewing experience; and for content providers as an effective, emerging distribution channel.
The most eagerly anticipated event in the FLO universe is the upcoming decision – expected as early as mid-July -- by the Japan MIC to award a single mobile broadcast technology and service license. The reserved spectrum block consists of 14MHz in the upper VHS range. Two proposals were submitted. One was based on the still-in-development ISDB-Tmm technology. The other proposal was submitted by MediaFLO Japan Planning, Inc., following successful trials in Okinawa that demonstrated novel, valuable applications, such as digital signage, a baseline FLO television service, and pointed a way forward for synergy between ISDB-T 1Seg and FLO.
The USA and Japan activities are not the only story to tell. For years, FLO Forum and its member companies have engaged on EU business, regulatory and technical efforts whose results are beginning to surface. In Europe, we’re hearing rumors that faced with the 2012 Olympics and the proven ability for mobile broadcast technology to deliver live sporting events, regulators may re-examine their license and spectrum policies towards more technology neutral regimes. The net effect would be to reduce a barrier to FLO deployment in the EU. The FLO Forum and its member companies are doing their part to further reduce barriers to FLO deployment. On July 12, 2010, ETSI announced the launch of a Public Enquiry (a review and comment period) for a Harmonized Standard for Mobile Television (EN 302 998). This is the first in a long series of steps that could result in listing in the Official Journal of the European Union. The practical result is that FLO transmitting equipment would need to be tested for compliance once and only once against EN 302 998 rather than on a country-by-country basis.
Last, the FLO Forum is keeping a keen eye on developments in Southeast Asia. Over the years, the FLO Forum has held direct discussions with mobile network operators, content providers and vendors, and provided input during regulatory public comment periods in India, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. A recent indication of progress is the announcement on July 7 that a leading Taiwan mobile network operator (FAR EASTONE) and Qualcomm have signed a non-binding MOU to explore mobile broadcast media operations.
To conclude, the FLO Forum and its member companies, both past and present, have contributed over the years to establish a viable FLO technology based ecosystem. We encourage all to continue to stay focused and stay driven even as we await critical decisions in the coming months.
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Fit for a summer of sport - The World Cup goes mobile
Nothing can encapsulate a country’s hopes and dreams while rallying national support quite like sporting events, and this year’s World Cup was no exception. There have been few World Cups that have resonated as deeply as this one, in part due to the multitude of viewing options available to fans around the world. It was truly the first World Cup that went “mobile” as global mobile viewing figures grew exponentially. In the U.S. alone, ESPN Mobile Web, ESPN 2010 FIFA World Cup and ESPN ScoreCenter applications generated 8.2 million visits and 50.4 million page views to World Cup content. Plastered from bedrooms to banner ads, this year’s FIFA World Cup was an inescapable highlight of the summer.
The World Cup lived up to its billing by drawing a global viewing audience numbering in the hundreds of millions. Varying from ad-hoc catch-up of matches and highlights to full blown live coverage, viewers were given multiple options from which to access their favourite games. Platforms such as BBC’s iPlayer and ITV Live were the de facto choices for online viewers in the UK, and drew in unprecedented ratings. During England’s knock out match against Slovenia, BBC Sport Online hit a record 6 million unique visitors, and EasyNet Connect, a business ISP saw a 226% increase in web traffic owing to many employees streaming footage direct to their desks during work hours.
The appeal of the World Cup even reached nations that have historically not focused on or expressed interest in football. For example, the American sports network ESPN saw a massive increase in traffic and ratings. The network experienced a 40% increase in viewing figures over the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and the USA v. Algeria match received an unprecedented 6.1 million viewers.
But for broadcast mobile media, this year’s World Cup was instrumental in showing the value of mobile TV – and specifically for dedicated mobile TV platforms. During the first five days of the tournament, FLO TV’s total viewing minutes surged 39 percent. The opening match featuring South Africa v. Mexico recorded the highest-rated sports telecast on FLO TV to date, with 80 percent of FLO TV watchers tuned in to the match.
Based on a dedicated broadcast mobile media platform, FLO TV overcomes the problems of “bottlenecking” inherent in using 3G networks for mobile TV and video. Rather than burden the networks with additional data streaming, FLO TV operates separately and independently to enable operators to continue offering their same core services uninterrupted. Calls weren’t dropped, web pages and apps were able to load properly and social media services like Facebook and Twitter continued to operate unaffected.
With the 2012 London Olympic Games as the next major sports fixture just around the corner, the time is right for the mobile TV value chain to come together and show the choice, quality and control broadcast mobile media can bring to the consumer. We have seen just a glimpse of the possibilities during the 2010 World Cup, but London 2012 could offer so much more. With the right convergence of devices, network infrastructure and event driven content, broadcast mobile media can help make London 2012 the first truly mobile Olympics. Only through collaborative initiatives and a consistent focused effort will consumers have access to interactive, seamless mobile sports coverage. With the global market for mobile television forecast to be worth $11.9 billion in 2012 (Juniper), it’s a vision that can be realised.
How broadcast technology is helping extend the depth and breadth of our mobile entertainment experiences
Dramatic changes are taking place in the consumer entertainment market as people embrace new media experiences with staggering speed. The proliferation of smartphones has fuelled this further as research from US-based analyst comScore has found that smartphone sales in Europe’s five largest markets grew 32 per cent in 2009, and by an astounding 70 per cent in the UK.
According to the latest Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2010-2014, from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), advances in technology and products will see increasingly converged, multi-functional and interoperable mobile devices come of age as a consumption platform by the end of 2011. Consumers are increasingly demanding content “ubiquity” as media is accessed across different devices to support ever-greater interactivity and convenience.
Mobile devices continue to be used in new ways, as more mobile applications are being downloaded than ever before to support the mobile lifestyle. According to Ovum’s latest report¹, America still dominates the smartphone mobile application download market. However, the growing penetration of smartphones coupled with the increased availability of applications with local relevance has resulted in the Asia-Pacific region seeing the most recent growth. The ability to consume and interact with content anywhere, anytime—and to share and discuss that content experience in social networks—will become an increasingly integral part of people’s lives around the world.
As consumers demand more and more entertainment on the go, operators must find ways to satisfy them. The challenge for operators lies in finding the right technology to seamlessly deliver content to customers because the delivery of such large volumes of data places a huge amount of strain on networks. As a result, operators are starting to look at broadcast to handle some of the data traffic.
Broadcast mobile technologies are uniquely positioned to deliver rich content without burdening the network. As a dedicated mobile broadcast technology, MediaFLO technology is recognized as a reliable means to increase capacity and coverage while reducing costs for multimedia content delivery to unlimited mobile devices simultaneously.
Furthermore, broadcast mobile media platforms enable a compelling user experience. Using a mobile broadcast platform, operators can offer customers access to a full range of relevant content, be it live twitter feeds, video clips or data-intensive multimedia files such as digital magazines.
As the mobile device is used for more and more services, optimizing battery consumption is also imperative to ensure the user is not left with insufficient power to use their mobile for its primary function; to make and receive calls. By accessing a small fraction of the total signal transmitted without compromising either frequency or time diversity, FLO-enabled devices are able to achieve comparable battery life to other mobile devices leaving limited room for interruption, and thus creating a compelling user experience.
Clearly there are several core elements that define a well-rounded solution and provide an advanced user experience. These include the range and ease of access to content; the delivery of a seamless viewing experience and the availability of features that go beyond normal TV viewing.
We have reached a crucial point in network congestion as consumer demand for engaging and interactive experiences continues to grow, and the industry must consider technology platforms that enable the increased delivery of even more varied and rich content. As more and more sophisticated devices are introduced to the market, making the right technology choice — one that results in the most interactive, rich and engaging experience for users — is imperative.
¹ Mobile application download and revenue forecast: 2010-15
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Future of mobile TV is growth, growth and more growth
The huge rise in demand for mobile broadcast media is set to continue according to research published this month. Analyst firm, ABI Research predicts that worldwide adoption of mobile TV will gain further momentum in 2012 through to 2015 when total market revenues are forecast to exceed US$20 billion¹.
According to ABI Research, take up in mobile TV service has been held back by several key issues that will begin to see resolution from 2012. First, the current limited transition from analog-to-digital TV will have been completed by most developed countries in 2012. This is expected to boost the number of mobile TV broadcast services being launched due to the lowering of barrier-to-entry prices for potential broadcasters as more spectrum is made available.
In Europe, Russia shows the largest potential for growth, with leading market research consulting services company, RNCOS predicting that the mobile TV customer base will hit 17 million by the end of 2013. Following the entry of various global telecom giants into the local market, the country has experienced considerable price reductions across-the-board on mobile services, which will play an important role in pushing up mobile TV subscriptions.
One of the most important factors identified for stalled growth in the mobile TV market is the current inadequacy of 3G cellular service throughput and latency performance for mobile TV. ABI Research suggests the deployment of 4G networks over the next few years might enable a significantly improved mobile TV experience. But in the opinion of the FLO Forum, 4G networks only postpone the inevitable, namely, that rapidly increaasing mobile broadband data demands will exhaust the available finite spectrum.
Research from Juniper¹¹ also predicts further growth in the global market. According to their latest report, mobile TV traffic over WiFi is expected to increase by 25 times between 2010 and 2015 as streamed service penetration and usage levels rise sharply. However, the report also notes that greater mobile TV usage will place the 3G and 3.5G networks under stress.
Report author Dr Windsor Holden states, "Cellular networks are finding it increasingly difficult to deliver high quality mobile TV services at times of peak usage: thus, the World Cup has posed particular problems with large spikes in viewing figures. WiFi can ameliorate this in the short term, but this is only a partial remedy."
It is clear that 3G networks have proven ideal for providing voice, high speed data services and connectivity for social networking and gaming; however the relentless increase in growth in rich content is placing a huge burden on the network and will result in deterioration of the service. In order to drive the demand for live TV, it is clear that network providers should look to an alternative for live video streaming.
Mobile broadcast offers a high quality TV/video viewing experience that does not place undue pressure on the existing network. There is no limit on the number of viewers that can be supported simultaneously and it is able to complement existing 3G applications.
In order for widespread mobile TV to become successful, operators need to address these issues now and deploy broadcast mobile media networks to alleviate the increasing strain over 3G and Wi-Fi. While substantial growth is predicted for the mobile TV market, mass consumer adoption of mobile TV will only be driven by a service that provides quality to its users.
¹ ABI Research, ‘Mobile TV Services’. June 2010.
¹¹ Juniper Research, 'Mobile TV: Applications, Services & Opportunities 2010-2015'. July 2010
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A big future for the small screen
Mobile phones have become a fundamental part of communications with increased processing power and memory to carry more personal data than ever before. For the mobile broadcast industry, mobile devices have also become the gateway to a range of entertainment experiences – helping deliver consumers a plethora of high quality, uninterrupted information and content.
These experiences are increasingly being accessed on a greater range of devices including smartphones, personal media players, in-vehicle devices, portable game consoles, and e-readers. Consumers have never had so many device choices, and although mobile phones are anticipated to still be the predominant method of viewing mobile video in the future, In-Stat predicts that over 160 million mobile TV-enabled (non-phone) devices will be sold in the next few years.
While a greater selection of devices benefits consumer choice, the burden of usage placed on operator networks cannot be underestimated. While 3G networks have proven ideal for providing voice, high speed data services and connectivity for social networking and gaming, they are not adequately prepared for the growth in rich media content. No operator has a data network with infinite capacity, so as networks get congested, calls get dropped, web pages take longer to load, applications take longer to update and social media services like Twitter and Facebook get harder to access from your phone.
Rather than rely solely on 3G networks, network operators now have the opportunity to combine the individual nature of 3G connections for key applications such as two way communications and interactivity with the scalability and quality of broadcast mobile media networks. While viewers may be happy to compromise on quality when viewing a photo on Facebook, they are not prepared to suffer buffering or poor viewing for live broadcast events such as football matches and breaking news events.
This was evidenced recently during the first five days of the 2010 World Cup as FLO TV reported consistently high viewing figures – showing the reliance its users placed on immediate and high quality streaming of matches on FLO-enabled devices.
When paired with 3G services, broadcast mobile media will provide the breadth and depth of content to drive future demand for live TV. The technology to deliver these services is available now, but the mobile broadcast value chain must seize the initiative and demonstrate the choice, quality and control it can bring to consumers. Mobile Network Operators need to see and understand the potential both in terms of content, delivery and revenue.
When paired with 3G services, broadcast mobile media will provide the breadth and depth of content to drive future demand for live TV. The technology to deliver these services is available now, but the mobile broadcast value chain must seize the initiative and demonstrate the choice, quality and control it can bring to consumers. Mobile Network Operators need to see and understand the potential both in terms of content, delivery and revenue.
Juniper Research predicts that the global market for mobile television will be worth US $11.9 billion in 2012. Clearly it’s a market that holds significant potential, but without the right balance between 3G and mobile broadcast services, the industry risks turning off and tuning out valuable subscribers. With the London 2012 Olympics just around the corner that’s not an option worth exploring.
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