Europe UK : IPWireless announced a new solution that allows mobile operators to leverage existing unpaired 3G spectrum to capitalize on the demand for mobile TV and other mobile multimedia.

TDtv, which combines the performance advantages of IPWireless’ commercial UMTS TD-CDMA solution and the newly defined 3GPP Release 6 Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Standard (MBMS), offers operators a number of significant strategic, performance, and economic advantages over alternative mobile TV solutions. Operators globally have already committed to pilot the TDtv solution in the first half of 2006.

TDtv operates in the universal unpaired 3G spectrum bands that are available across Europe and Asia at 1900MHz and 2010MHz. It allows UMTS operators to fully utilize their existing spectrum and base stations to offer subscribers attractive mobile TV and multimedia packages without impacting other voice and data 3G services. Several operators in Europe are expected to announce TDtv trials in their 1900MHz unpaired 3G spectrum during the first half of this year. In Japan, IPMobile plans to trial the technology for their services in their recently awarded 2010MHz spectrum. The solution will also be made available to operators in the other frequency bands that IPWireless supports globally, including the 2.5GHz band.

With TDtv, UMTS operators can deliver up to 50 channels of TV for standard mobile phone screens, or 15 higher quality QVGA channels, all in their existing 5MHz of unpaired 3G spectrum. For operators that have 10MHz of spectrum in any of the bands supported, the solution can deliver twice the number of channels or increase the quality of their service offerings. And unlike current unicast mobile TV services that take additional network bandwidth for every subscriber using the service, TDtv leverages MBMS to allow an infinite number of customers to watch the same channel or use the same network bandwidth. Operators can also deliver digital audio or other IP data cast services to enhance their service offerings.

“Most discussion of mobile broadcasting technology has revolved around broadcast networks, such as DVB-H, DMB and MediaFLO. However, these have a number of disadvantages for mobile operators, including lack of licensed spectrum, the massive cost of building a new network and a potential loss of control of mobile TV services to broadcasters,” said Alastair Brydon, chief executive officer, Sound Partners, an analyst firm specializing in emerging technologies. “A 3G MBMS standards-based technology, such as TDtv, could provide the most attractive broadcasting solution for mobile operators.”

Being part of the 3GPP family of standards also means that TDtv has far better integration with WCDMA systems than other Mobile TV technologies. TDtv architecture is designed to seamlessly integrate with WCDMA on both the network and device side. At the cell site, the very low cost TDtv base stations can easily be co-sited on existing WCDMA sites without additional regulatory issues. The solution integrates with WCDMA at the core network level resulting in easier billing and other back office integration. By utilizing the Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BMSC) as defined in the 3GPP standard, the two networks can work in unison to deliver services to subscribers.

On the device side, IPWireless is partnering to integrate TDtv into existing WCDMA devices at very low cost. Initial two-chip TD-CDMA/WCMDA handsets or larger screen devices will be able to reuse much of the WCDMA RF to lower cost and reduce size. Ultimately, TDtv will be integrated into WCDMA chipsets. Because TD-CDMA can reuse many of the existing WCDMA stacks, this adds a very minimal cost to the device.

“It would be a terrible irony if the next big opportunity in mobile services didn’t leverage 3G or put the mobile operators in control of the service offering,” said Chris Gilbert, chief executive officer, IPWireless. “We have received a tremendous reaction to TDtv from operators because they see the opportunity to deliver a fantastic mobile media service experience to customers and show regulators and investors that they are using and getting a return on their 3G spectrum.”

TDtv provides an especially attractive solution for the UMTS operators that have universal spectrum across multiple properties, allowing the sourcing of single devices as well as roaming across all countries. TDtv eliminates the need to buy new frequencies or partner with broadcasters, leaving the UMTS operator in full control of customer experience and revenues.