Orange, T-Mobile to pilot 3G mobile TV

Orange and T-Mobile will pilot a 24-channel mobile television service over their 3G network later this year, they announced today.

The trial in West London will use a system called TDtv which, its makers claim, means a large number of channels can be broadcast more cheaply than present mobile TV.

Video streams are expected to include Sky and BBC channels and there will also be 10 digital radio stations.

TDtv's developer NextWave Wireless believes the quality and reduced cost of the service will "conclusively prove customer demand for mobile broadcast TV and radio services".

Its system has the benefit of not requiring post-digital-switch-over spectrum but relies on the mobile networks sharing the 3G bands that they already own.

Other UK and global networks and phone manufacturers have also been invited to take part in the six-month pilot which follows a smaller trial of the technology in Bristol last year.

Orange product and innovation director Paul Jevons said the London trial would be "an excellent opportunity for us to properly explore the great potential available to our customers from the technology".

Emin Gurdenli, T-Mobile's UK technical director, added: "On a technical level, our involvement with this TDtv pilot is intended to raise awareness of the potential of broadcast mobile TV and help stimulate the development of an industry-wide ecosystem in which operators, handset manufacturers and content providers collaborate to realise a robust commercial proposition.

"TDtv uses part of the licensed 3G spectrum which is unused at the moment and is a technology that can scale to support high simultaneous usage levels without any degradation in quality. This solution would be ideal for broadcasting live, large sporting events such as the 2012 Olympic Games to high population densities."

NextWave chief executive Allen Salmasi said the TDtv trial would "clearly demonstrate the compelling economics of marrying our innovative TDtv technology with underutilized 3G spectrum to deliver high-quality mobile television services to the mass market".