Nokia has made the air interface specifications of its mobile TV end-to-end solution (DVB-H) publicly available which, it says, will help drive device interoperability and market development.
Based on Digital Video Broadcast – Handheld (DVB-H), the air interface specifies how mobile TV terminals interconnect with the network end of the mobile TV solution.
 “Operators and service providers want to know how the interoperability of terminals from different vendors can be ensured. By making this interface specification public, we are emphasising our commitment to open standards and interoperability as a means to enable positive market development”, says Richard Sharp, Vice President, Rich Media, Nokia.
The Nokia mobile TV solution is based on available open standards such as the DVB-H radio layer standard, which was approved in 2004 by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Some additional application layer specifications are in the process of being finalised by standardisation bodies.
DVB-H is a new technology that enables broadcast transmission of several television, radio and video channels to mobile devices. It combines digital broadcasting standards with specific features for mobile devices. To receive DVB-H transmissions, devices require an additional integrated receiver.
The Nokia mobile TV solution is a mobile TV system comprising terminals, servers and network components. Currently mobile TV services using DVB-H technology are being piloted in many countries around the world. Commercial mobile TV services are expected to start in 2006 but the standards battle globally is not over yet.
As you might expect Nokia has a major rival in Qualcomm, which is promoting the FLO standard, and also in Samsung, which stands behind the DMB standard.
Industry analyst the Shosteck Group said that the biggest operational difference for operators and consumers will be that mobile TV will be broadcast, rather than unicast as current mobile video services are. But it doubted whether quality would be significantly higher in broadcast TV than in cellular video clips. The answer may lie in a combination of broadcast, and interactive cellular, applications.
