Mobile HD TV

Thomas Husson | November 14, 2006, 11:41 AM

Orange France is launching a new offering, called Mobile HD TV.

Yes, you got it right: Mobile High Definition TV.

My first reaction at the briefing was to think: let’s continue the hype around mobile TV and over-promise the benefit to consumers. I had the opportunity to have a quick look at the service and the quality appeared to be good. However, I haven’t tested the service long enough to certify it. This is a label Orange will use to promote a compelling mobile TV user experience. The criteria to be respected are: QVGA screen, MPEG4+ codec and 250kbit/s but I don’t know how many frames per second are requested.
It will only be available with HSDPA for the moment and then with dedicated mobile broadcast technology. So basically, there is only one handset available (a Samsung). The option will cost 12 euros / month (+2 euros in comparison to the most expensive TV option so far). I still believe it may be too early to launch such a label and wonder how a DVB-H like experience is going to be called. I know their approach is to be technology-agnostic but still the quality of service will have to be seriously monitored, particularly taking into account the fact that even with HSDPA, the number of users able to watch simultaneously the same content is limited. Not an issue today given the number of HSDPA phones in the market, but it will be one to deal with at the end of the decade.

Anyway, this is clearly in line with Orange’s positioning on mobile video/TV (Orange has acquired the mobile rights to promote French football content, see here). The service is launched simultaneously with a major movie release “Arthur and the minimoys” from producer Luc Besson. The movie is clearly intended to be as a Christmas blockbuster for kids and their parents. Orange will thus launch “Mobiseances”; 21 short episodes (2 minutes each) released every day at 12am starting on November 16th on the Orange mobile platform, a good preview release window to generate buzz around the movie to be launched a month after.

UPDATED: The service is currently available with the Samsung Z560 (an HSDPA phone promoted with a 50 euros discount until January 17th at 149 euros). Apparently, the service will also be available on 3G not only on 3G+, so my comment on the need to carefully monitor the quality of service is all the more true. Here's the full-press release issued today