DVB Mobile TV : Services : France

Paris Mobile TV Customer Trial
March 08, 2006 - Summary of initial results: average viewing time of 20 minutes per day 50% of the participants stated that they watched mobile TV mainly at home, 14% while travelling (to be weighted by the absence of coverage in the metro during the pilot) and 12% in the workplace 3 periods of highest use: morning (9/10H), midday (13/14H) and evening (20/22H). 18% of participants stated that they watched TV once a week, 57% several times a week and 25% once a day The most watched programmes were: news, music, entertainment, sport, documentaries and, for the CANAL+ testers, films 73% of participants said they were fairly or very satisfied with use of the service. 68% would be prepared to take out a subscription as proposed in the pilot for 7€/month or more More than 80% said they were satisfied with the content proposed For some participants, it was also possible to establish a link between time and place: short viewing periods (less than 5 minutes) in a waiting room, while waiting for the metro (the Place d'Italie station has DVBH coverage), at a friend's house / intermediate viewing periods (up to 30 minutes) in the car, bus / longer viewing periods (more than 30 minutes), indoors (home, restaurant, etc.) The fact that most TV was viewed indoors highlights the need to ensure very high quality coverage inside buildings, hence the choice of the particularly robust and effective broadcasting offered by the DVB-H standard.

GENERAL INFORMATION

LOCATION
Paris, France
PARTICIPATING COMPANIES
- Groupe CANAL+: main organiser and aggregator of broadcast services - operator of the DVB-H broadcast platform - Nokia: provider of DVB-H broadcast equipment and DVB-H terminals - SFR: telecom network operator and organiser of return channel sercies - operator of e-commerce platform - Towercast: provider and operator of broadcast infrastructure
CONTACT

DURATION
Start: 15/09/2005 - authorisation to broadcast for 9 months
AIMS & OBJECTIVES
Main objectives are to assess: - the quality of reception of the proposed services - the diversity and attractiveness of the services proposed (TV channels, radio stations and interactive services - the users' behaviour in terms of usage, service ergonomics and programme content - the adequacy of the services offered and the client expectations This trial will also allow the testing and optimisation of technical parameters adn will contribute to the definition of a relevant business model.
USERS
Total: 500 250 selected from CANAL+/CANALSAT subscriber base and managed by Groupe CANAL+ 250 selected from SFR subscriber base and managed by SFR 53% men and 47% women, split 39% aged from 25 to 34, 32% from 35 to 49, 17% from 15 to 24 and 12% over 50.
SERVICE CONTENT
-13 TV channels covering all main TV themes (cinema, sport, information, music,...) CANAL+, iTélé, Planète, CineCinéma Premier, Sport+, L'Equipe TV, Equidia, Jimmy, Canal J - 4 radio stations: Europe 1, FIP, NRJ, SKYROCK Other services might be proposed to the testers during the trial following authorisation from the CSA (regulatory authority).

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

TRANSMITTERS
3 transmitters covering Paris 800W for one emitter and 400 W for the 2 others (PAR = 5kW for one of the emitters and 2.5kW for the two others)
BROADCAST BAND AND FREQUENCY
UHF Band IV Frequency: 538MHz 7 MHz channel
DVB-H PARAMETERS
Modulation: QPSK 2/3 OFDM mode: 8k Number of time-slices: 15 MPE-FEC: not activated Guard Interval: 1/8
AMOUNT OF BANDWIDTH USED FOR DVB-H
100% of bandwidth used for DVB-H
VIDEO FORMAT
Encoding format = H263, bitrate = 270 kbit/s (video+audio) Player = RealPlayer (integrated into Nokia 7710 Mobile TV application)
INTERACTIVITY PLATFORM
Nokia IPDC
CONDITIONAL ACCESS / DRM TYPE AND PROVIDER
Nokia IPDC
HEADEND EQUIPMENT
Nokia IPDC + Envivio H263 encoding software integrated on Dell 2850 platforms
RECEIVER / TERMINAL EQUIPMENT
Nokia 7710 Other terminals will probably be tested during the trial (pocket TV terminals, other mobile phone terminals...)

Information correct as of 28/09/2005