Mumbai: Alcatel-Lucent will support the first commercial trial of the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA)’s new BCAST Smartcard Profile, an emerging standard for Mobile TV content protection. This trial is being led by Alcatel-Lucent for MobileOne (M1), a mobile telecommunications service provider in Singapore, and MediaCorp, along with key mobile telecommunications providers SingTel and StarHub.
The trial, which began in early August, is based on Alcatel-Lucent’s industry-leading Mobile Interactive TV solution, which will power the DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld) platform for the trial. The trial also includes mobile devices from Samsung and Smartcard Profile-compliant SIM cards from Gemalto.
Alcatel-Lucent’s DVB-H platform supports the Open Mobile Alliance BCast Smartcard Profile (OMA BCAST SCP) standard, which is being adopted globally. This is a SIM-based service protection system that enables Mobile TV providers to offer flexible subscription models incorporating services such as pay-per-view, pay-per-time, recorded content and more.
"DVB-H delivers true mobile TV experience to users and will redefine the parameters of mobile phone use. We are excited to offer users a peek into this new generation of broadcast services over mobile, using Alcatel-Lucent’s mobile TV solution. The consumer trial involving Alcatel-Lucent and other technology partners will help point the way forward," said M1 director of business development and strategic planning Lee Kok Chew.
"DVB-H is a new and exciting technology that can offer mobile TV broadcasts to our customers. The solution from Alcatel-Lucent and its partners will help us gauge customer’s receptiveness to the service and fine-tune our planning parameters," said SingTel Director of Consumer Products (Mobile) Kang Aik Siang.
StarHub Head of Mobile Services Anil Nihalani said, "The DVB-H platform is designed to optimise the delivery of broadcast content over mobile devices. StarHub is keen to gauge the receptiveness of our customers to this new service, and is pleased to be working with Alcatel-Lucent, Samsung, and Gemalto in the user trial."
MediaCorp Managing Director for Technologies Mock Pak Lum said, "The mobile phone is truly a unique platform as a third screen for TV content. The success of the Mobile TV service depends on abundance of handsets and good user experience. We are very happy that Alcatel-Lucent is supporting us for this trial".
"We are pleased to be able to partner with Singapore’s leading mobile communications industry players in bringing more advanced mobile TV options to Singaporeans," said Alcatel-Lucent Singapore and Brunei managing director Oliver Foo. "Asian subscribers are ready for a mobile TV offering that delivers a large variety of choices, a high level of personalization, maximum interactivity, and great quality of service."
"Samsung is pleased to provide the latest Samsung SGH-P960 for the consumer mobile DVB-H trials in Singapore conducted by the three local telecommunications providers and MediaCorp," said Samsung Asia Managing Director Yoon Ki-Heung. "Samsung is confident in the upcoming DVB-H trials and looks forward to the day consumers in Singapore can get seamless streamed broadcast content direct into their mobile handsets."
