TATO promises to heat up 2G and 3G content delivery

Infinite Solutions has launched TATO, a mobile content delivery system that delivers 3G like services such as such as video and live broadcasting to 2G mobile users. 

TATO works by streaming compressed data to a mobile device —in addition, the service exploits a proprietary technology called WDTS (Wireless Data Transfer Service) which Infinite Solutions says provides a new method for mobile data connectivity.
WDTS effectively utilises the existing voice channel to provide data services so the user does not require GPRS or 3G.  Data services, such as e-mail and Internet browsing, for example, could therefore be accessed via an existing voice contract, Infinite’s coo Duncan Ward said. Clearly, the benefit to the user is that he is able to access data services at less than a tenth of the cost of GPRS and at significantly faster download speeds. 
ISL’s Chief Operating Officer, Duncan Ward, said the solution could work for 3G and 2G operators alike.
“For so long mobile users have been pushing operators to provide the services that 3G promised but as yet has failed to deliver. TATO removes this headache as it truly outperforms 3G allowing operators with 3G licences to deliver effective services whilst making better use of the available bandwidth. In addition it opens the path for delivering services to the mass 2G market.The applications for the platform are endless but at last users can view content, say a movie, football match or live television, on any mobile handset and it’s available now.  Introducing WDTS also means that users no longer need to worry about expensive data tariffs as data transfer is faster and significantly cheaper.”
TATO has been developed by Madrid-based MMS, who have appointed ISL to distribute the service in Europe, India, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. There are other compression technologies around, and the catch for operators is that they need to know they are not compromising any other aspect of their network, or back end systems, or device management strategies, or content platforms, by adopting such an approach.
Infinite Solutions explained its compression terminology in these terms:
“WDTS is a proprietary system technology that utilises the existing voice channel in a new way for data connectivity. It works on any mobile phone, its creator says,  and allows the same or better features and services to be managed and offered as well as being far cheaper (to both the user and operator) than the more traditional mobile data transmission methods.  For example sending and retrieving e-mail using WDTS is cheaper than text SMS messages. 
“A typical user on a standard tariff in Spain would typically pay between 10 and 30 euro cents for each SMS sent. Using WDTS sending and retrieving mail in the same operation could cost around the same but also allows the user to download large attachments at no extra cost.  With WDTS 1.4Mb, for example, would download in less than a minute.”