DVB-H IS beginning to wake up in Europe, and this time all mobile constituents from regulators to handset vendors, to broadcasters to cellcos, may finally create a widespread uptake. What are you laughing at, they might.
In Germany we have already reported that T-Mobile is having another look at the existing DVB-H license with a view to using it as a route to market for its recently acquired soccer rights, while this week France’s TDF has re-iterated its offer to build out and pay for a chunk of DVB-H network there, while finally in Finland, the home of Nokia, the local DVB-H franchise has found a cellular operator to push it, in DNA.
Italy has been the only Western European country operating DVB-H services since 2006, through two networks, one owned by 3 Italia and the other by MediaSet, which partners separately for two mobile TV bouquets with Telecom Italia Mobile and Vodafone Italia. 3 Italia is thought to have something just under 1 million customers, while few other operators in Europe have widespread adoption and TIM and Vodafone in Italy have negligible customers.
The Netherlands, through KPN, Austria through cellular operator One (Orange) and through 3 Austria, and in Switzerland through Swisscom are the only other countries which have launched DVB-H in Western Europe, while in Eastern Europe only Poland is on the verge of launching a live service, although there are many other trials.
The technology would get a huge fillip from a second tier one Western European country like the UK, Spain, Germany or France creating a service.
Interestingly TDF (Telediffusion de France) with a hand in a number of these live services and trials, is the most likely company to break the deadlock and this week it has activity on two fronts, Finland and France, to go with the renaissance that it hopes to rekindle as the network partner to T-Mobile in Germany.
In France, TDF has once more re-iterated its willingness to build out some, but not all of the minimum Mobile TV reach requirements that go with the spectrum, a repeat of an offer it made earlier in the year rejected by French regulator CSA in March. Then it said it would build out the network to reach 5 French cities. It has now changed this to 17% of the population and made the offer again, this time to cellcos and broadcasters.
We described the CSA’s decision NOT to take up TDF on its offer as a self inflicted shot in the foot and said at the time that with the entire future of the home grown European Mobile TV technology effort resting on it, the Regulator should reconsider at the first chance it gets.
This new turn over events broke, as it usually does on this subject, in the French newspaper Les Echos, which both sides use as a ‘leakage’ platform to put their ideas across.
TDF is said to have made its new proposal to mobile operators and TV broadcasters, as opposed to the Regulator, the idea being that once the concept was proven, they would each take a hand in financing rest of the project, which the regulator has said must eventually reach 30% of the French population.
What’s interesting was that this offer is actually LESS than the one it made to the regulator. Then, it said Paris plus 5 other cities, when the original spec would have needed France’s biggest 15 cities. Now it is saying 17% of the population. Well that actually almost certainly means just Paris.
The Urban area of Paris takes in 10 million people, just under 17% of the 62 million that live in France. In order to reach that, TDF would only have to build out around 2,700 square kilometers or transmitters, around 4% of the country’s land area.
What we assume is going on here is that these are leaks from the debate over business model and who pays for what, talks which only began this Spring, and which are expected to reach a conclusion shortly in time for a second quarter service launch in 2010. Orange estimated to us late last year that it thought mid 2010 was about right for the negotiations which had to take place and the urgency that the local cellcos ‘ Orange and SFR in particular ‘ placed on mobile TV, i.e. not very much.
However there is a subtle difference in the TDF offer, which now takes in 100% of the operating costs as well, while the cellcos and broadcasters put the service on the market, and work out a take up rate for the service. Its previous offer was just 25% of operating costs with the rest having to come from broadcasters. The better HSDPA gets, the more that France’s mobile operators are happy using 3GPP streaming sop the cellular operators do not feel compelled to shell out funds for this project. What Les Echos is saying is that TDF will take the risk on its own, but that will also mean that it has to set the service price.
TDF also won the contract to build the Austrian DVB-H network and has acquired the part of T-Systems which built the German network, as well as Digita which has run the Finnish DVB-H network since 2006.
At the time Finland hit a major copyright problem with the TV channels there, and its progress has been slow, with a very low key service introduced for free in 2007 and now this is about to be upgraded and sold by local operator DNA.
Initially only one of the top two TV channels, MTV3 was on the service along with some visual radio channels and other radio services. Now with DNA’s involvement the leading Finnish TV channel YLE will also be on the service. The new DNA bouquet will be free for an unspecified period and will then be charged for.
DNA will offer an encrypted bouquet (the previous bouquet was in the clear we believe) so that it can issue a DRM system and cut off people who do not pay later. DNA has about 2.5 million customers, almost half of the 5.2 million Finnish population. However the DVB-H network has so far only been built out to reach 40% of the population, in Helsinki, Tampere, Oulu, Turku and Salo, a total of around 2 million people.
Finland probably has the widest concentration of Nokia devices which are already adapted to DVB-H or which can be adapted easily, with the Nokia built $100 dongle called the SU-33W adapter, originally built for overseas markets.
Spain has spectrum set aside, but not yet auctioned for DVB-H and could accelerate its processes if France and Germany suddenly take off. However the UK has searched in vain for relevant spectrum and would either have to wait for digital switchover in 2012 or use another technology, which would make it unable for customers to roam across Europe on mobile TV and would also mean that device costs would not benefit from economies of scale.