Nokia admits DVB-H still not taking off
Is TV still mobile if no one sees it fail?
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Nokia's head of internet services has admitted DVB-H isn't taking off in the way the firm had hoped, and that customers seem more interested in downloading content than watching broadcasts.
Niklas Savander told a conference in Helsinki: "We have seen that there are multiple segments who are not interested in the broadcasting, but rather in downloads", Reuters reports. He also suggested "roll out is slower than... we anticipated a couple of years ago".
This should come as no surprise to anyone who watches TV. As the living room experience moves steadily towards an on-demand model, it seems perverse for the mobile-TV industry to be deploying a broadcast paradigm. There are situations where everyone wants to watch the same thing at the same time - sporting events or world-shaking news - but the rest of the time 3G networks seem to be sufficient for distributing video.
Nokia has pushed DVB-H very hard in Europe, and beyond, but there are still only 12 deployments worldwide (and three of those are in Italy).
Deploying a new broadcast network is very expensive, and operators are going to have to find innovative ways of clawing that money back if they're going to make any success of mobile video - and that's assuming that punters actually want to watch it anyway. ®
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COMMENTS
Good point foo_bar_baz
Until just over a year ago, I had never paid for a mobile phone bill in my life. Working for a telecoms company since graduation meant that I was probably the worst person to answer my friend's and families questions of "what's the cheapest phone deal".
After around 8 years of free phone bills, early access to GPRS and 3G phones, I grew accustomed to having my email at hand, streaming video and maps and silly questions anwered instantly.
When I started paying my own bills, I started with the most basic pay as you go for a few months to see what my usage patterns were and which luxuries I missed the most. I settled for a deal with cheap phone calls, free mins and text - and a 250mb monthly data tariff for just a few extra quid a month.
The zero cost argument, is obviously what subsididers and advert brokers rely on to lower the barriers to mass uptake.
But DVB-H, like digital radio are not 'Phormable' and so not currently attractive to the emerging subsidy models. Never has there been a more personal billboard as a mobile - an item that you check for after wallet, keys before leaving the house.
MMS - they got it half right. People take photos of their exploits on night out all the time, but they are more likely to email them when the get back home, or add them to a facebook group - but operators can't make money out of that.
I think you will see a growing number of people uploading direct from phones as the handsets are replaced over the next year or so.
3g etc
I didn't care about 3g until it was "zero cost" to me. Since i no longer pay by MB i do a lot of surfing while commuting (typing this on an N95 on the bus). That and music on the phone, didn't miss them until the boss upgraded my phone last week (thx m8!)
The point being many like myself don't want to pay the premium for new features but happily use them when they are standard features. Applies to dvb-h too. Mms i still don't use tho.
Just because you can...
Doesn't mean you should!
Make an N95 with a better camera flash, and a better GPS chipset (i.e. one that locks on in under 2 minutes!) and I'll be a happy man.
Oh, and recompile the old carddeck games so they run on S60 rev 3! I'm sure you'll find more calls for that on various blogs than you will for "I wanna watch tele!".
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