As satellite service providers continue to look for new ways to increase the bottom line, a recurring theme is offering television to mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants).

But just how big an opportunity this is for satellite operators remains to be determined, particularly in light of news that TU Media is not meeting its subscriber expectations with its satellite mobile satellite television service offering launched earlier this year in the technology-savvy Korean market (SN, Aug 1).

The development of the market could depend on how partnerships are formed between providers of mobile television services and the satellite operators. A model that appears to hold promise is the deal struck in early August between MobiTV and SES Global subsidiaries SES Americom and SES Astra. The companies jointly announced a multi-year, multi-site agreement under which MobiTV is leasing equipment, co-location space, Internet protocol transport, remote support and downlink services from SES. MobiTV will use SES’ facilities to deliver programming to mobile devices in Canada, Europe and Latin America. MobiTV already has a similar agreement in the United States, but has not named its satellite partner there.

“There are great opportunities for satellite providers to help extend their knowledge and contacts into the mobile space,” Alan Moskowitz, director of product development for MobiTV, told Satellite News. “There is also the leverage they have, with their physical assets, the satellite antennas for doing downlink services and having the well-connected via fiber infrastructure” to distribute content to carriers.

Little Upfront Costs

What could make this deal a winner for SES in the near term is that SES can provide its services with minimal investment of capital, Moskowitz said. The network architecture allows SES to aim its satellite antennas at content that MobiTV is looking to distribute to its mobile subscribers. MobiTV has satellite receivers and transcoding equipment in SES’ teleports and sends data via fiber to its transcoding and transmission facility for distribution to mobile operators and the end user.

“There was very little, if any, investment on their side,” Moskowitz said. “They have the monitoring facilities. They have people who understand the systems. They had physical space and high-bandwidth connectivity. So really it is a dream for them.”

The services provided under the deal will be an extension of what SES Americom has been providing in the mobile content delivery market for years, providing data and video services to vehicles and aircraft, Bryan McGuirk, president of North American media and entertainment solutions for SES Americom, told Satellite News. “More recently, we developed video on the go and data on the go for the military, and it is only natural that we be looking to extend these capabilities we developed over a period of years to consumers. We see it as reformatted new traffic. This is going to be DVB-H media flow or other format, so that requires re-encoding, repackaging and new delivery to a new set of customers.”

The Growing Market

For now, it does not appear that the mobile services market will be any significant increase in capacity utilization for satellite operators, but if the market takes off, long- term opportunities could exist.

“Ultimately, as [mobile television] becomes a global business, there will be some broadcast capacity via satellite [that may be dedicated to] bouquets of content addressed specifically for the mobile space,” Moskowitz said, drawing comparisons to the growth of channel bouquets that exist for services such as high-definition programming.

In the meantime, the key will be in educating users on what mobile service has to offer and ensuring that the highest quality of service is delivered. “I think it is a value proposition,” Moskowitz said. “I don’t think there is a magic price. If you turn on your phone and it instantly gives relevant information and entertainment, the price point can be quite high. If it is a service that struggles in any way, you are going to have difficulty.”

–Gregory Twachtman

(Steve Kleine, O’Leary Public Relations For MobiTV, 949-224/4022; Paul Sims, SES Americom, 678/576-6126)