All three UK operators are to trial data-intensive multimedia broadcast technology developed by IPWireless in Chippenham.
O2, Orange, and Vodafone are jointly launching a pilot of Integrated Mobile Broadcast (IMB) with equipment from IPWireless, Ericsson and Streamezzo.
O2, Orange, and Vodafone are jointly launching a pilot of Integrated Mobile Broadcast (IMB) with equipment from IPWireless, Ericsson and Streamezzo.
The multi-operator pilot will run for three months from October in
central London and Slough to assess how mobile broadcast services can
be deployed using shared network infrastructure.
The mobile operators are exploring using the IMB wireless technology within a little used tranche of 3G spectrum called Time Division Duplex (TDD) spectrum. This spectrum already forms part of the 3G licences held by many European mobile operators, but has remained largely unused because of a lack of appropriate technology.
IPwireless has been developing technology to use this over the last ten years and last year was included in the next generation specifications from the GSM Association.
The pilot will handle live streaming video and offloading traffic from existing 3G networks by broadcasting and storing popular content on the device. IPWireless will supply the core 3GPP broadcast technology with Ericsson as the prime integrator providing integration services and a media platform. Streamezzo, recently acquired by AMDOCS, is a leading software publisher of open mobile development platforms and will provide the rich media user interface for the pilot.
"With the strong growth of data traffic on our 3G networks and the mobile industry's recent support of this high performance broadcast technology, the time is right to move forward with an IMB initiative," said Luke Ibbetson, Head of Technology R&D at Vodafone Group.
"By joining our peers in this UK Pilot, we expect to be able to explore the potential of delivering broadcast services across available 3G spectrum."
IPWireless was bought back by its management from NextWave last year.
Nick Flaherty has been covering technology and startups since 1990 and is based in Bristol, where he co-founded the SiliconSouthWest network. During that time he has worked for most of the electronics magazines and newspapers in the UK and several in Europe and the US, covering all areas of the industry. He blogs at The Embedded blog www.embeddedblog.blogspot.com and Portable Multimedia www.portablemultimedia.blogspot.com and at www.flaherty.co.uk.
The mobile operators are exploring using the IMB wireless technology within a little used tranche of 3G spectrum called Time Division Duplex (TDD) spectrum. This spectrum already forms part of the 3G licences held by many European mobile operators, but has remained largely unused because of a lack of appropriate technology.
IPwireless has been developing technology to use this over the last ten years and last year was included in the next generation specifications from the GSM Association.
The pilot will handle live streaming video and offloading traffic from existing 3G networks by broadcasting and storing popular content on the device. IPWireless will supply the core 3GPP broadcast technology with Ericsson as the prime integrator providing integration services and a media platform. Streamezzo, recently acquired by AMDOCS, is a leading software publisher of open mobile development platforms and will provide the rich media user interface for the pilot.
"With the strong growth of data traffic on our 3G networks and the mobile industry's recent support of this high performance broadcast technology, the time is right to move forward with an IMB initiative," said Luke Ibbetson, Head of Technology R&D at Vodafone Group.
"By joining our peers in this UK Pilot, we expect to be able to explore the potential of delivering broadcast services across available 3G spectrum."
IPWireless was bought back by its management from NextWave last year.
Nick Flaherty has been covering technology and startups since 1990 and is based in Bristol, where he co-founded the SiliconSouthWest network. During that time he has worked for most of the electronics magazines and newspapers in the UK and several in Europe and the US, covering all areas of the industry. He blogs at The Embedded blog www.embeddedblog.blogspot.com and Portable Multimedia www.portablemultimedia.blogspot.com and at www.flaherty.co.uk.
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