Europe : Alcatel
announced it has been selected by T-Mobile International to provide
its affiliated companies in Germany, the UK and Austria with a fully
integrated interactive mobile TV solution. This solution will enable
T-Mobile's innovative "TV in Your Pocket" service, allowing
the operator to address the booming mobile TV market, while enhancing
its subscribers' experience with interactive and personalized mobile
TV programs.
Leveraging superior
encoding and streaming technologies, Alcatel's interactive mobile
TV solution offers EDGE and 3G users a best-in-class mobile TV experience,
thanks to rich-media player and electronic program guide (EPG) features,
smart navigation and fast channel zapping, as well as video and audio
quality optimized for mobile handsets.
Alcatel will provide
T-Mobile International with an end-to-end integrated solution, including
comprehensive customer care facilities and full flexibility in implementation
of tariff schemes. Moreover, based on a joint T-Mobile and Alcatel
Content Governance Model, T-Mobile has granted Alcatel responsibility
for aggregating live TV content, as well as "made for mobile"
channels. In the first phase of the project, Alcatel will also host
and technically operate the complete service platform for all three
countries from its centre in Stuttgart, Germany.
Phil Taylor, Director
of wireless Internet research at Strategy Analytics commented: "The
success that Alcatel has experienced with mobile TV in France, has
amply demonstrated Alcatel's credentials as a best in breed partner
for multimedia solutions. The addition of T-Mobile to Alcatel's customer
base positions them strongly for leadership in this space."
Martin Schneider,
Executive Vice President of Consumer Marketing T-Mobile International
declared: "Building upon their leadership in advanced interactive
mobile video and TV applications as well as their field-proven expertise
in end-to-end telecommunications solutions, we decided to extend our
long-standing relationship with Alcatel in order to efficiently address
the complexity of the mobile TV technologies and ecosystem. Combining
the best of TV and mobile, mobile TV is set to become the next mass
market for entertainment. With Alcatel as key technical partner, we
are confidentthat our innovative mobile TV services will be a true
success."
Marc Rouanne,
Chief Operating Officer of Alcatel's mobile communications activities
added: "We are very proud to have been selected by T-Mobile International
to support their ambitious multi-country mobile TV project. This achievement
confirms our leadership in the mobile video and mobile TV market,
and illustrates the pivotal role we are committed to play in making
mobile TV a mass market reality."
Alcatel's music
and video solutions have already been adopted by more than 80 mobile
operators in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America to enable their
mobile video, music and live TV services. Visitors to the 3GSM World
Congress 2006 in Barcelona from February 13th to 16th are invited
to come and see Alcatel's interactive mobile TV demonstrations at
the Alcatel booth (Hall 8, Booth 09). Alcatel's interactive mobile
TV solution are also demonstrated at Alcatel's 3G Reality Centre in
Velizy, France.