
Europe
: Digita and Nokia have signed the world's first commercial DVB-H
mobile TV platform supply contract. Nokia will deliver to Digita its
Nokia Broadcast Solution (MBS) 3.0, which is a service management
solution for DVB-H services.
The
MBS 3.0 supports the broadcasting of different types of digital content
such as live TV, radio, and video clips over DVB-H networks to mobile
devices. Digita obtained the DVB-H network license from the Finnish
Government earlier in 2006. Digita will be responsible for the broadcasting
network and administration of channels as the network operator. The
first stage of network rollout in 2006 will cover the area inside
the Ring Road III in the Helsinki region and the cities of Turku,
Tampere, and Oulu. The network will reach 29 percent of the population
in Finland by the end of 2006. Digita has already made plans to extend
the network to cover the majority of Finns. Negotiations with the
possible service operators have been based on these plans.
"Nokia is extremely pleased to see the start of commercial mobile
TV roll outs that are based on open standards. Nokia strongly believes
that mobile TV based on open standards prevents fragmentation of the
DVB-H market and enables a healthy competitive open market,"
said Harri Männistö, director, Multimedia, Nokia.
"For Digita a very important element of Nokia's platform is that
it supports the international DVB-H standard, which is open for all
terminal suppliers", said Kari Risberg, technical director, Digita.
"Digita will utilize the open network model for the DVB-H network
which will be in commercial use already this year. Our role is to
be the network operator and offer capacity and services of the network
to all service providers under equal, fair, and transparent terms",
said Sirpa Ojala, managing director, Digita.
Nokia's MBS 3.0 solution is based on open standards such as DVB-H
and will support both Open Air Interface (OAI) and the DVB-CBMS implementation
profiles. In the service protection, Nokia is supporting the open
standard 18C solution based on OMA DRM 2.0, which can be used to protect
any digital content in addition to TV programming. The key features
of the MBS 3.0 include the Electronic Serve Guide (ESG), a consumer
interface in the mobile device for searching available services, setting
alerts for upcoming programs and for the viewing selection. Additionally,
the MBS 3.0 offers flexible content pricing schemes and provides consumers
with an easy way to purchase viewing rights.
Digita, Elisa, MTV3, Nelonen, Nokia, Sonera and YLE jointly conducted
a mobile TV pilot in Finland between March and June 2005 with 500
users accessing mobile TV using the Nokia 7710 smartphone and DVB-H
technology. The results of the pilot were very positive and revealed
the popularity and willingness to pay for mobile TV services among
consumers.
About Digita
Digita Oy is the leading Finnish distributor of radio and television
services, and an important developer of data communication networks
and network infrastructure. Digita's nationwide organization ensures
the high quality of services 24 hours a day. Digita's customers include
television and radio broadcasting companies, as well as mobile and
broadband operators. The company's turnover was 97 million euros in
2005 and it employs 374 people. Digita is part of the international
TDF Group. (www.digita.fi)