Europe UK : ROK Entertainment Group, UK-based developer of mobile entertainment services and technologies, today announced the provision of the worlds first video-on-demand (VOD) mobile TV serice streamed over mass market 2.5G GPRS.
The up-graded VOD mobile TV service is available now on ROK TV.
"This is a massive technological breakthrough with regards to mobile TV, going forward" said Jonathan Kendrick, Chairman and CEO, ROK Entertainment Group "as we are now able to offer true on-demand mobile TV over mass-market 2.5G via GPRS to the ever-growing number of people with a GPRS data package included in their mobile tariff".
With Mobile TV set to become a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide over the next 5 years, there are two distinct technologies set to compete for the market: full-form broadcast TV delivered via DVB-H, MediaFLO or DAB and the delivery of unicast mobile TV streamed to mobiles over existing networks.
"As mobile TV is usually watched for just a few minutes at a time, the content available must not only be instantly engaging to the viewer but should also allow the viewer to choose what they want to watch when they want to watch it" added Kendrick "and that's exactly what we've now achieved with ROK TV"
ROK TV is currently being deployed to 30 selected Mobile Network Operators worldwide with the most recent service launches being with AIS in Thailand and with Telenor in Pakistan.
"Given that viewers only have the oppotunity to watch TV on their mobiles for a few minutes at a time, we believe most people will be reluctant to pay anything more than a token amount to receive full-length broadcast TV on their mobiles" Kendrick went on to say "and that's why we have not only made mobile TV available over mass-market 2.5G GPRS, rather than just over 3G networks, but have also enhanced the viewing experience by making the non-live channels truly VOD".
ROK TV is available as a subscription service from www.rok.tv and is priced for as little as £0.99p per channel per month or for £9.99 per month for all 22 channels with the first 2 months free. Aimed at those people with a data package already included in their mobile tariff, ROK TV offers channels such as Fox News, ITN, National Geographic, Fifth Gear, Popworld, Sports News Television, Xtreme Sports, Reality TV and the made-for-mobile channel, Monkey News Network.
The VOD facility on the non-live channels offered by ROK allow the viewer to fast-forward, pause and rewind the content.
