Advanced Television

Consumer spending on mobile TV to hit $2.7bn by 2013

October 8, 2008

The increasing availability of mobile handsets capable of receiving free-to-air analogue and digital terrestrial TV signals will adversely impact the prospects for dedicated mobile broadcast TV networks, according to a report from Juniper Research.

While the report says that more than 330 million mobile users worldwide will own broadcast TV-enabled handsets by 2013, less than 14 per cent will opt for mobile pay TV services. Although mobile broadcast TV will generate global annual end-user revenues of $2.7 billion by 2013, this level is markedly lower than previously forecast.

According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, “The development of terrestrial TV-capable receivers with comparatively low power consumption, and the availability of these receivers in mass market handsets, throws into question the business case for the deployment of a dedicated network in many markets.”

The report notes that operator decisions to offer DVB-T handsets in Germany has effectively closed the door for DVB-H in Germany, and argues that the strong take-up of analogue TV handsets in China indicates that free-to-air services will continue to predominate.

However, the report also notes that this trend in turn has created a further opportunity for streamed TV services. Holden continued: “There will always be a market for some form of premium TV service on the mobile handset, and with broadcast TV in many markets likely to consist simply of the free-to-air terrestrial signals, the gap in the market is likely to be filled by streamed video-on-demand services over the 3G network.”

Categories: Articles, Mobile, Mobile TV