Network operator references

Sunrise Switzerland (mobile-TV)

From a mobile-TV point of view, Swiss operator Sunrise is in a sweet spot. This year, two large sports events – the European Football Championship and the Beijing Olympics – are expected to give Sunrise’s mobile-TV service a significant boost.

From a mobile-TV point of view, Swiss operator Sunrise is in a sweet spot. This year, two large sports events – the European Football Championship and the Beijing Olympics – are expected to give Sunrise’s mobile-TV service a significant boost. Will the games, in fact, be the big chance for mobile worldwide? Since it launched mobile TV on its UMTS network in late 2005, Sunrise has seen usage increase consistently. The company’s recent adoption of a new encoding standard to enhance video quality, along with the introduction of more UMTS-capable phones, has encouraged subscribers. So have Sunrise’s mobile-TV prices: subscribers today watch 16 channels for CHF 12 (EUR 7.40) a month, Switzerland’s lowest rates. Watching for signs Still, Sunrise has not yet chosen to invest in a DVB-H broadcast network. The company has made upgrades to its UMTS/HSDPA network to accommodate the expected surge in data traffic, and plans to monitor subscriber behavior and uptake during the games, says Sunrise spokesman Konrad Stokar. “Maybe these sports events will indicate that it’s time to increase our capacity and switch to a broadcast network,” Stokar says. “We do believe the football championships and Olympics will have a positive impact.” Many industry analysts are making the same bet. The China potential In its mobile market outlook for 2008, London-based research house Analysys predicted that the sports events will “drive the mobile TV market” this year. With China launching its mobile TV service in connection with the Olympics, half a billion mobile subscribers in that nation alone will enter the market for the first time. ABI Research, a US-based research firm, believes the bulk of mobile-TV growth this year will come from Asia, and from China in particular. ABI predicts there will be 462 million mobile-TV users by 2012, up from about 24 million today. Ginny Lee, a senior analyst and wireless infrastructure expert at Current Analysis, a US-based research firm, says the Olympics, in particular, “have huge potential.” “We know that sporting events drive mobile TV,” Lee says. “People are going to want to catch segments that appeal to their national pride and tune in when their teams or their athletes are competing. And they’re going to watch the highlights.” The youth factor It’s no big mystery why sports and mobile TV go together, says Stokar of Sunrise. “Here in Switzerland, young people are quite crazy about football,” he says. “And they also happen to be the group that watches mobile TV the most.” That seems to be true also in other parts of the world. MobiTV, the mobile TV content provider, recently surveyed 3 million viewers in the United States. Four-fifths were between the ages of 18 and 39, and two-thirds were men. Sunrise at a glance Headquarters: Zürich, Switzerland Business: mobile, fixed, broadband services Market: Switzerland Subscribers: 2.28 million, including 1.55 million mobile 2007 revenues: CHF 1.9 billion (EUR 1.2 billion) Founded: 1997 as Sunrise brand Owner: TDC

Tianjin TEDA Cable, China (VOD)

Rising incomes in the world’s most populous nation has made China a hotbed for video-on-demand (VOD). Tianjin TEDA Cable Network Co. turned to TANDBERG Television to secure a piece of this lucrative pie.

Rising incomes in the world’s most populous nation has made China a hotbed for video-on-demand (VOD). Tianjin TEDA Cable Network Co. turned to TANDBERG Television to secure a piece of this lucrative pie – one of two significant TV contracts the Ericsson company has landed in China of late. China may be a huge market, but it’s hardly alone. By 2012, more than 900 million homes worldwide will have access to VOD through IPTV and cable TV combined, according to the latest forecast by Informa Telecoms & Media, the UK-based research firm. That would equal 78 percent of the world’s TV households. Global on-demand TV revenue will more than double to USD 10 billion four years from now. While North America will generate more than half of the money stream, the Asia-Pacific region will account for more than half of all homes with access to on-demand TV, Informa projected. Since then, Vodafone Spain has amassed 150,000 mobile TV customers, and the service has grown to become the operator's most sought-after data offering. Consumers want to interact Operating as a government-owned cable-TV network, Tianjin TEDA Cable serves 50,000 subscribers in Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, a high-tech industry cluster in northeastern China. Facing stiff competition from other fixed telecom services providers, the cable operator decided to invest in VOD and network personal video recording services (nPVR). They will be rolled out in January 2009. Market surveys have shown that most cable users in the 40-square-kilometer TEDA region are interested in interactive TV, says Jia Xiaolei, vice general manager of Tianjin TEDA Cable. “We’re seeing explosive growth in the Chinese VOD-market already,” Jia notes. “We want to seize the interactive television market in order to improve our TV offering and to enhance our competitive edge. Our plan is to provide TEDA residents with the most advanced digital communications and entertainment available.” A flexible solution So Tianjin TEDA Cable is investing in TANDBERG’s Openstream® Digital Services Platform, a comprehensive open VOD solution that gives the cable operator the flexibility to use servers, billing systems and applications from suppliers of its choice. The platform is also scalable, allowing Tianjin TEDA Cable to expand the system as demand grows. Jia is convinced that many customers in his service territory will jump at the opportunity to conveniently record previously broadcast shows on the network. “The network personal video recorder, especially, will influence the viewing habits of most users,” he says. Challenge and opportunity The rise of VOD comes in response to far-reaching cultural changes that the broadcasting industry must deal with, says Adam Thomas, author of the Informa Telecoms & Media report. “A new type of viewer is emerging who is rejecting the passive model of traditional linear TV, so concepts such as VOD and DVR (Digital Video Recorder) are tipping the balance of power towards the consumer,” Thomas says TANDBERG Television also secured a deal this year with China’s Star Communication Network Technology Co. to provide on-demand TV services for customers of three cable companies in Shandong Province, a coastal region in eastern China, and in Gansu Province in the upper Yellow Valley in northwestern China. Tianjin TEDA Cable at a glance Headquarters: Tianjin, China Business: digital cable TV services Market:northeastern China Subscribers: 50,000 2007 Revenues: n/a Founded: 2005 Owners: government

Vodafone Iceland (Prime Integrator, IPTV)

Ericsson takes the prime integrator role, joining forces with established partner Vodafone Iceland, to ensure the smooth delivery of its IPTV service to the highly evolved and technologically aware Icelandic market.

BH Telecom Bosnia-Herzegovina (mobile-TV)

BH Telecom, the biggest operator in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has not yet implemented 3G in its network. But they are still on the verge of launching their first mobile TV services.

BH Telecom, the biggest operator in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has not yet implemented 3G in its network. But they are still on the verge of launching their first mobile TV services. BH Telecom is not only the biggest operator in the Bosnia and Herzegovina market of about 3.8 million inhabitants; they are also the first to offer video services to their clients. Grga Mrkonjić, solution manager, Systems Integration at Ericsson Nikola Tesla in Croatia, is responsible for the project. "BH Telecom is one of the operators that are aware of the competition from GAMEY (Google, AOL, Microsoft, eBay and Yahoo), players emerging from the internet industry that are coming in fast and aiming to take a big piece of the revenues that telecom operators have been hoping to get," Mrkonjić says. BH Telecom started to build its service-layer network in 2004, a process that has now moved on to the implementation of Ericsson's Mobile TV & Video solution (ECDS 3.0). This step makes BH Telecom one of the first operators in the region ready to offer video content and mobile TV to its customers. This is despite the fact BH Telecom is yet to implement 3G in its network. His colleague Ivan Lupić, Ericsson Mobility World manager for Market Unit Central Europe and section manager, IMS in the mobile TV project for BH Telecom, says: "This is a very good example of how to do things in the right order. Starting with this now allows the customer to be up and running the day they get 3G fully implemented in their network. A big mistake many companies have made is to first build the pipe, then waste a lot of time looking for services to put in it." In the near future, BH Telecom will be able to offer its customers, both within their digital and circuit-switched networks, the option to watch TV programs and video clips. The next step could be video games and other services. And BH Telecom has already begun to open its network to new business collaborations with external content and application providers. Mrkonjić says: "They have also implemented Ericsson's service delivery platform solution and integrating that with ECDS 3.0 enables them to start experimenting with new content and video services. "Starting with the streaming of video services at an early stage and on a small scale is also a good way to try out different business models, to build up experience and knowledge within the company and continue exploring how the multimedia market can be developed in their region. Because they are the first operator in the country to offer video services, this also puts them ahead of their competitors." If in the future BH Telecom chooses to go with IMS, the technology, business systems and many of the functions from the 3G upgrade can be reused. Lupić says: "To become more than just a provider of voice and a pipe for data traffic will take some time. A whole new ecosystem of companies from different industries has to be created, starting with contacts and collaborations within the media and entertainment industries. The sooner an operator starts working in this new ecosystem, the sooner they will start making money from new services on the market."

Dialog Sri Lanka (mobile-TV)

Ericsson helps Dialog develop its streaming solution into a scalable and feature-rich mobile-TV platform.

Dialog Telekom operates Dialog GSM, Sri Lanka's largest mobile phone network. It is a subsidiary of the Telekom Malaysia Group. Dialog was offering a video-streaming and download service to its customers as a standard GPRS service. With the commercial launch of its 3G network, the operator was very eager to bring a highly scalable and feature-rich mobile TV offering to its customers. But Dialog faced challenges in scalability and had difficulty charging customers for the services they were consuming. The operator was in a dilemma. Should it invest further in its existing platform by adding functionalities through internal software development efforts - or should it go for a standard business solution such as Ericsson’s Mobile TV & Video solution? Ericsson started a consultative approach by analyzing the gaps needed to fulfill the mobile TV requirement. Ericsson mobile TV solution was then presented to Dialog. Features such as subscriber- and content management, a faster channel selector, and flexible charging capabilities from Ericsson were well-perceived and accepted by the operator. To start with, Dialog is migrating its existing TV channel offering to the Ericsson Content Delivery system (ECDS). Ericsson Mobile TV solution lets Dialog provide premium services to its customer, and to charge accordingly. Ericsson is now working with Dialog to add a few more interesting features such as mobile TV client downloads to mobile phones, subscription services, and circuit-switched streaming for 3G consumers.

CYTA Cyprus (GPON)

Ericsson and CYTA, the leading operator in Cyprus, have signed a contract for a Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) network based on Ericsson's GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) solution.

July 11, 2007, 11:00 (CET) Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and CYTA, the leading operator in Cyprus, have signed a contract for a Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) network based on Ericsson's GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) solution. CYTA has started to provide advanced broadband services, such as High Definition TV (up to two channels per home), games, on-demand services, Voice over IP (VoIP) while there is also the option of Surveillance and Security services. Nikos Timotheou, CEO, CYTA, says: "With this pilot project, CYTA proves once again its commitment to offer high quality broadband services to our customers, using innovative technology. In this effort, Ericsson, with their leading global experience and expertise combined with their local commitment, is our valuable partner." Spyros Nikolaou, Country Manager Ericsson Greece, Cyprus, Albania & Malta says: "This agreement confirms Ericsson as partner of choice for CYTA to provide users innovative services to any device, anywhere and with the maximum convenience. We are proud to be the partner, providing solutions that support a Full Service Broadband strategy, today and in the future." The contract includes delivery of central office optical equipment and devices for the homes, EDA1200 and EDA1500, and passive infrastructure such as fiber systems and cables. Apart from the GPON network (point-to-multipoint configuration), the pilot project includes also a point-to-point network, using Ericsson's equipment (switches and CPEs). The contract also encompasses a comprehensive portfolio of Services, such as education and knowledge transfer, business consultancy, network design and supervision.

Cellcom Israel (mobile-TV)

Ericsson has signed a contract with leading Israeli mobile operator Cellcom Israel to provide an end-to-end mobile TV and video solution to enable Cellcom Israel's subscribers to enjoy a true TV experience, including access to live TV channels and video-on-demand (VoD) content.

January 8, 2008, 10:00 (CET) Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has signed a contract with leading Israeli mobile operator Cellcom Israel to provide an end-to-end mobile TV and video solution to enable Cellcom Israel's subscribers to enjoy a true TV experience, including access to live TV channels and video-on-demand (VoD) content. Under the agreement, Ericsson will be the sole supplier of a mobile TV platform supporting rich media clients, a content management system and support systems for operation and customer care units. Rollout has started in December 2007, with commercial launch due during 2008. Ericsson's cutting edge mobile TV solution will provide users with a customized TV experience offering access to fast channel switching, an easy-to-use navigation menu and more advanced features. Ericsson's Mobile TV and Video solution leverages the existing cellular network to allow operators to capitalize on existing network infrastructure investments. The flexible and scalable solution can also accommodate broadcast technologies such as Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service, as they become available. Nahum Hai, Director of Advanced Services Department at Cellcom Israel, says: "This move reaffirms Cellcom Israel's leading position in the Israeli market. By partnering with Ericsson, Cellcom Israel can offer easy access to a personalized, world-class mobile TV experience." Mats Bosrup, President and CEO of Ericsson Israel, says: "Mobile TV is going from strength to strength as operators expand and leverage their networks. Ericsson's mobile TV solution will enable Cellcom Israel to offer sophisticated new services while tapping into new revenue opportunities."

Midwest TEL NET US (Advanced Compression)

Telco consortium leverages the industry's most advanced MPEG-4 AVC IPTV video head-end for digital video distribution.

Atlanta, October 16, 2007 - TANDBERG Television, part of the Ericsson Group, today announced at Telco TV 2007 that Midwest TEL NET, a consortium of Independent Operating Companies (IOCs) throughout southwest and central Wisconsin, has selected the award-winning TANDBERG iPlex™ video processing platform to deliver high quality video to its subscribers. By providing a flexible, high density IPTV head-end with the industry's leading picture quality performance, the TANDBERG iPlex will enable Midwest TEL NET to offer consumers a number of channels in high definition (HD) video using MPEG-4 AVC video compression. 'As a global leader in the IPTV market, TANDBERG Television understood our business needs and provided us with a best-in-class compression solution that gives us a high level of video processing flexibility,' said Marty Snustead, executive director, MidWest TEL NET. 'We have been extremely pleased with the technical support we've received and look forward to working with TANDBERG Television on future initiatives.' As part of the integration, Midwest TEL NET deployed the iPlex video processing platform and a number of award-winning RX1290 Multi-Format MPEG-4/MPEG-2 SD/HD Integrated Receiver Decoders. The iPlex video processing platform is a comprehensive system with ultra-dense encoding, transcoding, processing and routing capabilities which enables any telco to easily and efficiently expand service offerings. As a result, Midwest TEL NET can quickly deliver HD video to consumers and easily expand its services in the future due to the highly flexible and scalable iPlex solution. 'TANDBERG Television is committed to providing next generation IPTV platforms that enable service providers to offer high quality programming and advanced television services,' said Ian Tapp, senior vice president of business development, TANDBERG Television, Inc. 'TANDBERG Television brings a wealth of television expertise to the telco industry, and we look forward to working with Midwest TEL NET to deliver advanced IPTV services to their subscribers.' TANDBERG Television is the leading IPTV service provider worldwide, with over 180 IPTV deployments serving more than 2 million IPTV subscribers worldwide. TANDBERG Television was recently named the IPTV global market leader for video head-ends in three out of four regions in the world by Multimedia Research Group, Inc. Since its launch in March this year, the TANDBERG iPlex has won three major industry awards. These are the IPTV World Forum's 'Best IPTV Head-end & Video Processing Technology'; an IEC InfoVision award at Broadband World Forum in Asia; and most recently a CSI Product of the Year Award at IBC for 'Best Digital Video Processing Technology'.

Valtech Communications Canada (IPTV)

Valtech Communications Inc, a supplier of next-generation triple-play services in Canada, has chosen Ericsson's IPTV solution. Using Ericsson's IPTV technology, Valtech will be able to provide new and value-added television services to its customers.

February 10, 2008, 09:00 (CET) Valtech Communications Inc, a supplier of next-generation triple-play services in Canada, has chosen Ericsson's (NASDAQ:ERIC) IPTV solution. Using Ericsson's IPTV technology, Valtech will be able to provide new and value-added television services to its customers. The Ericsson solution consists of next-generation broadband access, multi-service edge routers, world-leading video compression, IPTV middleware, and content distribution platforms. The next-generation broadband infrastructure makes it much easier to combine data, voice and video services. The solution will enable Valtech to offer a wide range of standard, high-definition broadcast channels and interactive services. Ericsson's IPTV solution will bring personalized and interactive multimedia services that are beyond today's broadcast-TV experience. René Arbic, President of Valtech, says: "We have chosen Ericsson's solution not only because of the quality of the IPTV platform but also because of the state-of-the art components, technological partners, services capability and availability of local competence. Together, we can establish new standards for IPTV in North America and abroad." Mark Henderson, President and CEO of Ericsson Canada, says: "Ericsson's IPTV solution, including components from our companies TANDBERG Televison and Redback Networks, along with our systems-integration capabilities and local services personnel, will provide Valtech with a complete solution that provides advanced services. In addition to Ericsson's engineering excellence, Valtech was impressed by Ericsson's Quebec-based R&D and services activities and competence."

OTE Greece (IPTV)

Ericsson has been selected to act as end-to-end IPTV systems integrator, solution provider and business consultant for tier one Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE SA).

March 12, 2008, 07:00 (CET) Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has been selected to act as end-to-end IPTV systems integrator, solution provider and business consultant for tier one Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE SA). The integrated IPTV solution for OTE comprises of headend systems from Tandberg Television, part of the Ericsson group, middleware application, content distribution platform and a customized and flexible consumer portal. The solution will also involve complete implementation and integration of tools for operational management. Ericsson was chosen for its proven ability to deliver a complete IPTV solution that meets the market demands. The IPTV solution will enable OTE to offer new and sophisticated services to its consumers. The initial offer will include a wide variety of broadcast channels, video on demand, electronic program guide, and personal video recorder capabilities. Jan Wäreby, head of Ericsson's multimedia business, says: "We are proud that OTE has chosen Ericsson. This is a major step for Ericsson and OTE in the new multimedia arena, where IPTV is playing a key role." Ericsson offers an end-to-end IPTV solution consisting of IPTV middleware, video on demand, network-based PVR, IPTV headends, content protection, IPTV infrastructure, systems integration and IPTV applications such as games. Ericsson has to date signed more than 180 IPTV contracts. Those include commercial contracts, trials, IPTV System Integration projects, IPTV headend contracts and IPTV infrastructure contracts for access, metro transport and IP Edge.

du Dubai (iPlex, Advanced Compression)

TANDBERG Television, part of the Ericsson Group, today announced that its award-winning iPlex™ UltraCompression IPTV video processing and transcoding system has been selected by du, the Dubai-based telco, as the head-end for its IPTV services. du is the United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s newest telecommunications company, launched in February 2007, already amassing over 1.5 million customers.

Southampton, UK - 5th March 2008 TANDBERG Television, part of the Ericsson Group, today announced that its award-winning iPlex™ UltraCompression IPTV video processing and transcoding system has been selected by du, the Dubai-based telco, as the head-end for its IPTV services. du is the United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s newest telecommunications company, launched in February 2007, already amassing over 1.5 million customers. The innovative multilingual du IPTV service offers TV channels from the UAE and around the world, catering to the tastes of different nationalities and cultures. du offers more than 15 Premium TV packages, in 18 different languages from content aggregators and providers worldwide, providing UAE's consumers with a wide choice of TV programming, including live sporting events, from around the world. TANDBERG Television's broadcast expertise and its award-winning iPlex UltraCompression high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) video processing and transcoding system provides du with a range of advanced features including bandwidth savings, industry leading density and improved picture quality. 'We are deploying TANDBERG Television's best-in-class technology to enable the expansion of du's IPTV service and continuously improve its quality, while still maintaining flexibility and efficiency,' said Osman Sultan, CEO, du. 'We are pleased to be able to draw upon TANDBERG Television's deep understanding of IPTV, as well as its advanced solutions. This will enable us to optimize the bandwidth requirements for delivering television over our Ethernet-to-the-home network, whilst still maintaining the high picture quality that our customers demand.' The iPlex UltraCompression HD and SD IPTV head-end is based on TANDBERG Television's next-generation AVC platform and provides a step change in digital video distribution by combining the broadest choice of density and enhanced features with the industry's leading picture quality/performance. A flexible video processing platform that offers the industry's most complete IPTV head-end solution, the TANDBERG iPlex includes MPEG-2 SD encoding, MPEG-4 AVC HD and SD encoding, MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 transcoding, MPEG-2 transrating, and picture-in-picture (PIP) service generation in a high density, NEBS-certified, telco-designed chassis. 'du is an innovative, forward thinking telco, that has acquired an impressive customer base since its launch last year. We are pleased to be increasing our presence in the UAE with such a pioneering customer,' said Eric Baron, President of TANDBERG Television EMEA. 'Our next-generation iPlex IPTV head-end will enable du to benefit from advanced solutions such as increased density, improved bandwidth management and enhanced picture quality, while at the same time future-proofing their infrastructure with features such as transcoding and a simple upgrade path to HD.' Since its launch in 2007, the iPlex UltraCompression has won a number of major industry awards, demonstrating the value it delivers to telcos. It received 'Best IPTV Head-end & Video Processing Technology' at the IPTV World Forum 2007; an IEC InfoVision Award at BBWF Asia; a CSI Product of the Year Award at IBC for 'Best Digital Video Processing Technology' and an IEC InfoVision Award at BBWF Europe.

Multimedia Polska Poland (VOD)

TANDBERG Television, part of the Ericsson Group, announced that its OpenStream® Digital Services platform has been fully deployed by Multimedia Polska to power its entire on-demand (VOD) services. Multimedia Polska has over 600,000 customers and is one of the leading Polish providers of triple-play, combining hybrid cable/IPTV television, broadband internet and fixed-line telephony in a single package.

Southampton, UK - 10th March, 2008 TANDBERG Television, part of the Ericsson Group, today announced that its OpenStream® Digital Services platform has been fully deployed by Multimedia Polska to power its entire on-demand (VOD) services. Multimedia Polska has over 600,000 customers and is one of the leading Polish providers of triple-play, combining hybrid cable/IPTV television, broadband internet and fixed-line telephony in a single package. The VOD service is a critical part of the Polish operator's deployment of a major, advanced multimedia offering. Programming includes a broad line up of movies, sports and entertainment and is available either via free, subscription, transaction or 'time-shift/catch-up' services. Multimedia Polska also launched a HDTV offering last year using TANDBERG Television encoding and future plans will see the operator introduce more advanced, revenue generating services such as mobile TV. "Our on-demand platform is a major part of our vision for an advanced media service for Poland. We were the first Polish operator to launch digital television services for our telephony subscribers and we are now in a position to be innovators in the Polish VOD market," says Bartlomiej Kasinski, Strategy and Development Director, Multimedia Polska. "We chose TANDBERG Television's OpenStream platform because it provides the interoperability with third party products that we require and seamless support for our middleware system. Flexibility is a key factor and OpenStream's open architecture will enable us to benefit from a multi-vendor environment and provide a firm foundation for our interactive, consumer-focused service." As part of the contract TANDBERG Television has provided its Xport® on-demand content production software system, as well as its OpenStream back office. The deal builds on TANDBERG Television's leadership position in the on-demand market. With five OpenStream systems already deployed in Europe, including UPC Netherlands, TANDBERG Television has rapidly become the European market leader in on-demand back office solutions. In addition, OpenStream is the leading open digital services platform in North America and has multiple deployments in Asia, including Oriental Cable Network (OCN) in Shanghai. "We are delighted that our OpenStream platform is enabling another milestone roll-out of VOD services. Multimedia Polska's vision for an extensive media system for Poland reflects its own fast growth and vibrancy and we are proud to be part of that development," says Eric Baron, President of TANDBERG Television EMEA. "Given the highly competitive nature of the television and multimedia market and the increasing constraints on capital, it was vital that we could provide Multimedia Polska with a cost-effective method of rolling out revenue generating on-demand services. OpenStream allows flexibility, scalability and the lowest possible total cost of ownership without sacrificing performance, security or freedom of choice." The OpenStream Digital Services Platform The industry's leading open standards based solution, OpenStream offers operators the flexibility of using servers, applications, billing systems, and other system components of their choice. The platform currently delivers on-demand streams to more than 60 US markets reaching over 15 million digital subscribers. Top operators who have commercially deployed the OpenStream platform include Comcast, Charter Communications, Time Warner Cable and UPC. OpenStream was also selected as the platform of choice for the small to mid-size market by National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC), which represents over 1,000 independent cable operators serving more than 14 million subscribers nationwide.

Content provider references

Turner Broadcasting US (CNNMobile)

Ericsson and Turner Broadcasting System are partnering to bring multimedia content to mobile phones. The deal is an example of how mutually beneficial the multimedia business can be for telecoms and media companies.

CNN Mobile, the state-of-the-art news service launched in collaboration between Ericsson and Turner Broadcasting in March this year, is attracting users from all over the world. Already reaching more than 1 million page views per month, service usage is growing by 20 percent per month. The free-of-charge news service features 120 stories each day, ranging from breaking news to top stories on business, sports and entertainment. Users can enjoy hourly video news updates, get weather reports from more than 1000 cities worldwide and access blogs from CNN correspondents in the field. The service is available to users via the link http://cnnmobile.com. Some European operators have now started to include the link in the news category of their portals. Juergen Nagel, business manager for Turner Services at Ericsson, says top news, sports and weather are the most popular items, while users in Europe and Africa are the most active. "Besides Western Europe, the countries where the services are used most are in Africa, such as Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Even though we have not yet officially launched the service in North America, we are already attracting a lot of users from that area." The mobile news service, initially introduced in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, will be launched in the Americas, Asia and Australia at a later date. CNN Mobile is only the first in a range of services developed jointly by Ericsson and Turner Broadcasting. A CNN Java client application is in final development, with more functionality and animations for a richer user experience. Next in line is the launch of a Cartoon Network portal in the UK in September, offering the likes of Scooby Doo, Tom & Jerry and The Flintstones, as well as content including ringtones, games and wallpapers. Tony Ragan, acting head of Mobile Digital Media at Turner Broadcasting, says the partnership between the two companies - combining the delivery of Turner news and entertainment content with hosting and content management technology developed by Ericsson - is an ideal match. "Ericsson is a company that has a similar global footprint to Turner's; it is just as innovative, and is looking at the future for mobile products and future-proofing those products," he says. "The collaboration with Ericsson means that we can maintain our focus on being a media company, exporting our content across different platforms. What Ericsson does is bring its technology behind that. A central hosting and delivery system provides economies of scale and it's also really valuable having a one-stop shop from a process point of view. Ericsson also has deep operator relationships on a local level -relationships that Turner and other media companies don't have. It's an ideal marriage."

NBC Universal US (HD TV)

TANDBERG Television Equips NBC Universal’s launch of new High Definition channels marks the first US commercial use of DVB-S2 8PSK modulation designed to ensure better reception for distribution to service providers.

Atlanta, October 29th, 2007 - TANDBERG Television, part of the Ericsson Group, today announced that TANDBERG Television provided a combination of compression products and managed services to NBC Universal for the launch of its new high definition (HD) channels, including Bravo HD, USA HD, Sci-Fi HD and CNBC HD, which premiered October 3rd. The deal enabled NBC Universal to expand its program offerings to cable, satellite and IPTV service providers throughout the United States. 'We benefit from a long standing relationship with TANDBERG Television and value their innovative solutions which impact how content providers can more effectively distribute programming,' said Larry C. Thaler, Vice President, Distribution Technology Media Works, NBC Universal. 'We were excited to leverage TANDBERG Television's expertise and products to deliver the highest quality HD experience for our viewers nationwide.' For the first time in the US, TANDBERG Television supplied its DVB-S2 8PSK modulators with PREKOR™ to distribute programming to service providers. The DVB-S2 modulation standard is designed to increase the throughput of a satellite transponder, or increase downlink margins for better reception. Prekor, which recently won the award for best satellite contribution/distribution/transmission solution at the Cable & Satellite International Product of the Year Awards during IBC 2007, optimizes the use of DVB-S2 8PSK modulation by pre-correcting for distortions that can greatly reduce the maximum transmitted bit rate. NBC Universal also deployed a TANDBERG system that includes MPEG-2 HD multiplexes and the TANDBERG Director network management and receiver control system. With best-in-class bandwidth performance, these market leading encoding solutions provide NBC Universal with scaleable, future-proofed solutions. In addition, TANDBERG Television also provided NBC Universal with its new Director Advantage service, a complete turnkey managed solution for the deployment of IRDs, and a multi-service decryptor fully integrated with the Director System. 'We are at the cutting edge of innovation in the broadcast industry, and are thrilled to be working with NBC Universal to deliver its exciting new HD channels,' said Al Nuñez, president of the Americas, TANDBERG Television, Inc. 'We are committed to both media companies and service providers alike to provide high quality digital video solutions that bring an enhanced television experience to the home.'

NRK Norway (mobile-TV)

With Ericsson's assistance, NRK established an interactive mobile-TV advertising application, providing a business model that allows mobile-phone users to watch live or on-demand streamed TV programs and interact with their favorite brands or shows.

Gunnar Garfors, director of Development at NRK, says: “Consumers don’t just watch TV these days; they are watching TV, surfing the net, downloading music and chatting with friends simultaneously. Mobile TV allows them to engage and customize what they’re viewing in the same manner they have become accustomed to on the internet.” NRK is one of the biggest media companies in Norway, with several national TV and radio channels as well as major websites. Since 2000, it has been a leader in mobile content and interactive services in Europe. “Ericsson has seen our value and, from a technical standpoint, we’ve seen Ericsson’s importance. So we’ve found each other,” Garfors says. NRK has worked with Ericsson for several years. This year, both companies cooperated on a highly successful mobile-TV trial, in which advertisers successfully employed customized marketing for individual mobile-TV viewers. Advertising content spanned a variety of formats including videos, banners, ticker texts and branded downloadable content. The trial was a success, Garfors says. “We saw that … viewing time averages at about 2.5 minutes with mobile TV, but as soon as you interact with the advertisers, the banners and go into the advertisers’ portals, it increases to seven minutes,” he says. Viewing time has increased nearly threefold, and operators are clearly getting more telecom-network traffic, which means that people are using mobile TV more, he says. “In Norway we’ve learned through experience that people are keen on taking up new services. They’re curious and of course we have Ericsson as a neighbor, so we have always received advanced technology early.” And the advertisers already involved are laughing all the way to the bank.

White Papers and Brochures

Changing the way we look at television

TV as we know it is changing – we’re about to see the end of passive one-way broadcasts.

Just imagine that you’re watching your favorite football team, the score’s even and there’s only 5 minutes left. The thing is, you’re already late for a train that you absolutely have to catch. Now imagine that you, with just a click on the remote, can move the game from your TV to your mobile phone and keep watching while you’re on the move. Or imagine that you spend 20 minutes on the train every morning and evening. And that you can use that time to catch-up on the latest episode of your favorite TV show. Or just imagine....

Full Service Broadband Architecture (White Paper)

After years of talk about fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) and next-generation networks (NGN), technology solutions are now ready to give fixed and mobile operators a major leap forward in their Full Service Broadband offerings. Operators have an opportunity to deploy an open, standards-based combined fixed and mobile architecture that offers a cost-effective, evolutionary route to new Full Service Broadband opportunities.

Introduction to IMS (White Paper)

IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) enables and drives efficient converged service offering. It is the key to delivering multimedia services with telecom-grade quality of services across fixed and mobile accesses. It creates new opportunities for operators who want to deliver attractive, easy-to-use, reliable and profitable multimedia services – including voice, pictures, text and video, or any combination of these – with existing services. Users benefit by being able to enjoy attractive converged multiple services regardless of access network and device.

Related material

Ericsson leads the way as prime integrator

Ericsson has recently signed a number of prime integrator deals in the TV area.

Ericsson has recently signed a number of prime integrator deals. It’s uniquely placed to help operators stay competitive by transforming and sometimes managing their business in an ever-changing and evolving telecom environment. Earlier this year, Ericsson teamed up with Vodafone Iceland to deliver an IPTV service for the Icelandic operator. The country has one of the highest penetration rates of IPTV in the world, so the operator is always looking for ways to stay ahead of its competitors. Under the deal, Ericsson is taking the prime integrator role and delivering an end-to-end IPTV solution to Vodafone Iceland including IPTV middleware, content distribution platform, video headend, Conditional Access/Digital Rights Management (CA/DRM) and a customized TV portal. The acquisitions of such companies as Tandberg Television and Marconi have further strengthened Ericsson's capabilities in taking on the roles of partner and prime integrator. Ericsson has also signed a prime integrator deal with leading Israeli mobile operator Cellcom Israel to provide an end-to-end mobile TV and video solution. This will allow customers enjoy access to live TV channels and video-on-demand (VoD) content. Under the terms of the agreement, Ericsson is the sole supplier of a mobile TV platform supporting rich media clients, a content management system and support systems for operation and customer care units. Mats Bosrup, President and CEO of Ericsson Israel, says: “Mobile TV is going from strength to strength as operators expand and leverage their networks. Ericsson's mobile TV solution will enable Cellcom Israel to offer sophisticated new services while tapping into new revenue opportunities.” A third deal was signed in Greece when Ericsson agreed to act as end-to-end IPTV systems integrator, solution provider and business consultant for tier one Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE SA). Tonny Uhlin, Ericsson’s Strategic Marketing Manager and Driver of Prime Integrator, says: “It’s a matter of building the best solution for the individual customer – for the situation they are in today – and also making sure that we will be able to support this solution into the future. “Our recent deals with operators in such diverse markets as Iceland, Greece and Israel demonstrate Ericsson’s strong global brand – we are leading the way in taking on the role of prime integrator.”

Delivering TV with ‘scale and skill’

Offering an individualized TV experience needn’t turn into a drama series for operators.

Meeting the demand for TV that is personal, interactive and mobile doesn’t just place new demands on telecommunications operators, explains Tonny Uhlin, Strategic Marketing Manager and driver of Prime Integrator. An end-to-end mobile TV or IPTV solution involves an entirely new service layer, new IT solutions, hardware, business models and strategy. “Operators are looking for the competence, the scale and the skill to take on the task,” Uhlin says. Ericsson Global Services offerings include Business Consulting, Prime Integrator, Systems Integration and Managed Services, which are customized to the operators needs. Global Services Business Consulting draws on Ericsson’s global experience with telecommunications operators and its understanding of market dynamics, customer demands and changing technologies to help operators launch and sustain profitable TV services, Uhlin says. Prime Integrator provides seamless integration of multivendor and multi-technology equipment, program management, partner management and competence development. Systems Integration involves integrating telecom management, IT and service layer solutions, as well as areas such as order control, he explains. “It’s a matter of building the best solution for the individual customer - for the situation they are in today - and also making sure that we will be able to support this solution for a long time looking forward.” In Greece, for example, Ericsson recently was asked to provide a customized solution to launch IPTV service over OTE’s existing core and access network. Antonio Russo, IPTV Sales Manager for Multimedia, says Ericsson had to build the solution on top of a complex, multi-vendor system. This meant integrating multiple third-parties’ hardware, including Tilgin Set Top Boxes, SecureMedia CA and DRM System and Agama quality monitoring systems. “From a business perspective it was important to focus on reuse and optimizing the systems and solutions they already have,” he says. The project involved establishing 11 points of presence for IPTV and one center in Athens. Russo said solution architects had to optimize bandwidth, that is, manage it in order to move content closer to the subscriber without overusing the core network. “You have to have engineers who are creative, flexible and who are open-minded and experienced with working with third parties.” As Prime Integrator Ericsson took over content management, which involved not only responsibility for copyright protection and marketing reports, but working with the customer and selected content providers to adapt the IPTV portal’s appearance to be consistent with the content provider’s image. Russo says Ericsson was chosen because it is capable of providing the end-to-end solution. “The customer said, basically, ‘We don’t want to deal with all the stuff.’ In an IPTV trial, the customer likes to sit in front of the TV with the remote control and see how IPTV works. “Thanks to our open platform and our flexibility in integrating it to adapt to customer needs, we were successful and are ready to move to the commercial phase,” he says. Phase 1 launch is slated for September 2008. Ericsson has bolstered its TV offering in recent years with the acquisition of TANDBERG Television, Redback, Marconi and Entrisphere. The acquisition of HyC in late 2007 strengthened Ericsson’s ability to support operators and service providers in the solution design, installation, integration and operation of TV services. Another step in Ericsson’s bid to become an industry leader in TV services is the 2007 launch of the TV Center in Gothenburg, Sweden, where testing, training and sales presentations are performed in an end-to-end IPTV lab.

TV gets personal (PDF)

In this article Alan Delaney, IPTV Business Development Director, Ericsson, explains what telcos and other players need to keep in mind as we enter the uncharted waters of IPTV.

HyC boosts systems integration offerings

Ericsson's acquisition of HyC, a Spanish IPTV consultancy and systems integration company, fits well with two strategic areas, says Franck Bouetard, Head of Consulting & Systems Integration, Ericsson.

With the acquisition of HyC, Ericsson strengthens its ability to support operators and service providers in the solution design, installation, integration and operation of TV services,” says Bouetard. Multimedia and services - including IPTV, mobile TV and systems integration - are two key strategic areas for Ericsson. HyC marks Ericsson's fourth acquisition in the systems integration area over the past few years. The deal is a good complement to Ericsson's early 2007 acquisition of TANDBERG Television, the world's leading provider of advanced video compression technologies, says Bouetard. IPTV is a key technology for telecom operators and service providers that will bring interactive and personalized broadband TV services to consumers. The IPTV market is growing exponentially, says Bouetard. “There are roughly seven million IPTV users today, but analysts expect there to be about 80 million by 2012.” HyC was attractive to Ericsson for three main reasons, says Bouetard. “HyC gives us access to an additional 110 highly qualified consulting and systems integration professionals in the TV domain. HyC's skills and experience fit perfectly with our service offerings in the IPTV and mobile TV domains, and provide us with better operator access and credibility in Iberia and Latin America,” he says. HyC will continue its leadership in the Spanish and Latin American markets, while supporting Ericsson globally with its TV competencies. HyC employees will be part of Ericsson's Global Services organization. Hector Prieto, cofounder and general manager of HyC, is pleased with the acquisition and sees benefits for Ericsson, HyC and HyC customers alike. HyC grew from two people to 110 in a less than four years, says Prieto. “We are bringing TV experience and know-how, as well as closeness to and knowledge of operators in the television arena in Iberia and Latin America,” he says. “Our customers will benefit because they retain access to HyC's dynamic expertise, but they also have access to a stronger organization, a wider roadmap and more offerings. We are proud to belong to Ericsson.” Ericsson's systems integration expertise covers multimedia services and service network, telecom management, IP-packet backbone, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), satellite communications and national security and public safety solutions. Each year, Ericsson delivers roughly 1000 systems integration projects - in multi-vendor and multi-technology environments - to operators and enterprises.

Visions of the future with CNN

Want to run your business from a yacht, thousands of nautical miles from headquarters? Ready to fly to the moon?

Want to run your business from a yacht, thousands of nautical miles from headquarters? Ready to fly to the moon? All you have to do is imagine, because with vision, almost anything is possible – especially in the world of telecoms. Ericsson is continuing its partnership with media giant CNN to explore what life might be like in 2020. The new Just Imagine series kicked off in mid-May, presenting new case studies and interviews with the world’s leading innovators and futurists. By tuning in, you’ll meet pioneers such as Robert (Bob) Richards, founder and chief executive of Odyssey Moon, a company working on the “long-term, responsible development of the moon for the benefit of all humanity.” Richards thinks we earthlings need to look to other planets to solve some of our most pressing environmental issues, such as overpopulation and depletion of resources. Another segment of the Ericsson-CNN partnership is a case study telling the story of Lars-Evert Lindberg, a Swedish businessman and boater who uses mobile broadband to run his company in Germany from the Stockholm archipelago.

The new TV experience

Telecom companies are looking at IPTV solutions to further grow their customer base and deliver a truly innovative and personalized cross platform experience.

Telecom companies are looking at IPTV solutions to further grow their customer base and deliver a truly innovative and personalized cross platform experience, while offering consumers an answer to their wishes for content-on-demand and mobility. IPTV may still be in its infancy with only a modest number of subscribers, but it is expected to turn into a mass-market service over the next few years. Multimedia Research Group (MRG) predicts there will be 72.6 million IPTV subscribers globally by 2011. Alan Delaney, IPTV business development director at Ericsson says: “IPTV is about much more than traditional TV broadcasts over an IP network. It is about integrating media with communications services to deliver personalized, interactive television no matter where the viewer is.” Ericsson's vision of personalized IPTV services is based on open standards and scalable technologies capable of delivering IPTV to many different devices over multiple networks. IPTV offers consumers increased control and convenience over an increasingly personalized experience. Consumers not only decide what to watch, but can control when, where, by whom programs can be consumed. Content can also be tailored to the individual consumers’ preferences, ensuring they only receive information or advertisements relevant to their personal profile. Nowadays, consumers are taking more of their entertainment and communications services through a single company with IPTV solutions increasingly being at the center of the home. This includes communications (wireless telephony, electronic messaging, instant messaging, intercom, and voice/video conferencing) and security (in-home monitoring, intrusion detection, and remote video surveillance). The network operators are looking to provide and manage increased value added offerings such as home-service applications, as Delaney explains. In this convergent environment, subscribers will be able to log into their IPTV service to enjoy their personal experience. They will be able to see their IPTV buddies online and direct their friends to the channel they are watching, and then start to discuss the program via instant messaging, texts or voice calls. They will also be able to take their content with them, both in and around the home as well as on the move and at their friends’ house. “When all content delivery involves IPTV, and all pay-TV providers are bundled-service providers, and when everyone is two-way enabled and interactive, new applications, the speed with which they can be deployed, and the cost of delivering them will set operators apart from their rivals,” Delaney says. Nevertheless, for IPTV to become a mass-market service, operators must first consider the many applications and services that have yet to be invented and build platforms that are adaptable, because there is no template for IPTV. “Beyond the current video-on-demand and television services, we are entering uncharted waters,” Delaney says.

The new TV center

At Ericsson TV center systems integration, consulting and technical knowledge and expertise is being gathered to make Ericsson a leading supplier of IPTV solutions and services.

Deep within Ericsson’s Gothenburg office lies the global competence center for IPTV. At the TV Center, systems integration, consulting and technical knowledge and expertise is being gathered to make Ericsson a leading supplier of IPTV solutions and services. At the TV center, within Ericsson’s Gothenburg office at Lindholmen: customers – the operators – come to study how Ericsson builds IPTV systems and to hear how Ericsson can maximize the business potential and minimize the technical limitations of their networks. This is also where Ericsson employees from all over the world come to learn how IPTV works from a commercial and technical standpoint. IPTV is expected to become telecom operators’ next big business, thanks to the fast deployment of broadband networks and a deregulated TV market. The technology is advancing quickly, the networks are in place and the operators have systems to charge for their services. Henrik Ericsson is responsible for IPTV operations within Ericsson Solution Area Content and Media. He describes a typical customer visit: “Before the customer comes to the TV center, we’ve already found out what they want to know, so we can show our solutions to meet their queries and demands. “The customers bring along their marketing people, who sit in front of large screens in the display room, built as a living room, discussing how to make their IPTV offering attractive to consumers. Customer technicians are taken to the lab where, together with Ericsson staff, they discuss, and are shown, the end-to-end technical parts; everything from the set-top box in the homes to the end-to-end operational management of an IPTV solution.” Apart from the technical solution the customer technician’s focus is very often linked to questions about provisioning, network management, quality assurance, charging and related operational managements of the services. The TV Center is currently working on the integration of the Mobile TV solution to show the business potential of converged TV. “An area that usually impresses is that we have an IMS-based demo ready. IMS is the standard for the future of IPTV and other multimedia communication,” Ericsson says. “We are now evolving our solutions with IMS, which is one important enabler for convergence between IPTV and Mobile TV. Converged TV will be the next-generation TV, which will change the way people watch TV – an individual TV experience on any device, any time, anywhere.” Did you know that ... ... about 15 million people have IPTV today? In five years, almost 100 million people are expected to be able to watch TV via broadband. Source: Ericsson

The living room of the future, today

Families were changed forever with the advent of television and the TV dinner in front of the TV. Family dinners were never the same. Now, the home gateway is set to change the family dynamic again.

Families were changed forever with the advent of television and the TV dinner, with its prepackaged food consumed in front of the TV. Family dinners were never the same. Now, the home gateway is set to change the family dynamic again. A home gateway, similar in appearance to a router, is the connecting hub between the electronic devices of the living room and the broadband network. Broadband modems, the home gateway's predecessors, only enabled the connection of a single PC to the internet. Today's consumer is looking for a triple-play experience where the PC, TV and telephone can all access the broadband network, even simultaneously. "I started to work on this topic at Telecom Italia nine years ago, and the goal then was to have a reliable and stable home network that was easy for everyone in the family to use," explains Paolo Pastorino, CTO of the open forum Home Gateway Initiative (HGI). "From that need came the concept of the home gateway." The HGI forum was created in December 2004 by a number of telecom companies to create and release specifications and standards for the home gateway. Originally formed by just nine companies, the HGI membership now represents all the major players in the home broadband market. Interoperability In a smart living room, a home gateway can allow several electronic devices to be utilized. "The gateway enables the customer to connect to the network to a number of devices, such as internet-based devices, game consoles, laptops or MP3 players," Pastorino says. The key concept for all these devices is interoperability and ease of use; ensuring different systems and devices can work together seamlessly. When devices are not easy to configure, or fail to be configured, consumers can become discouraged and are less willing to purchase more electronic devices. The seamless integration and quality of service offered by the home gateway are the keys to attracting and keeping customers. Pastorino gives a clear example of the role of family communication in the home gateway. "If the entire family is in front of the television and no one is in front of the computer, an important e-mail may arrive unnoticed. However, with the home gateway and the support given by it to broadband and communication services, the user might be able to specify if an alert should appear on the television screen, informing the family that a new e-mail has arrived." Customer focus While the HGI has worked mainly with operators that will provide the home gateway, the customer is always kept in mind. "We work with customer requirements as well as operator requirements," Pastorino says. "Our priorities for the customer are to ensure that the home environment is easy to use. Once a customer turns on a new device, configuration is not needed to have it connect to the broadband network. We have also focused on entertainment and an exchange of personal content. The home gateway must be able to support these services." He says HGI is continuing to work on home gateway specifications and standards. "We recently released Home Gateway Requirements: Residential Profile v1." However, Pastorino, and the rest of the HGI, believe there is more to be done. "We are addressing other kinds of architectures, as well," he says. "For example, if you have fiber-based architecture, then the gateway may be slightly different from what we are proposing now." Even though the idea of a smart living room seems futuristic, it is not a new one. "In the analogue world, when it was just TVs, all you had to do to watch television was turn on your set. You didn't have to configure IP addresses or figure out encryption keys, and that's the way it will be again with a home gateway."

Kick-off for football on mobile TV

A deal between FIFA and Ericsson will bring major football events to your mobile phone in time for the 2010 World Cup.

Ericsson and FIFA, the world governing body of football, have signed a global agreement for the use of Ericsson's content management and service delivery platforms to deliver a wide range of multimedia content. The deal means that key events in the football calendar, such as the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, will be available to watch on subscribers' mobile phones and other portable devices. The deal, which was signed jointly in Switzerland and Sweden at the start of 2008, will enable FIFA to license coverage of its activities to mobile operators and broadcasters around the world. In turn, this will allow operators to offer customized content to subscribers. Services are due to begin during 2009. Hubert Kjellberg, head of internet and media segment at Ericsson, says: "This is a great opportunity for football fans all around the world - to watch their favorite sport on their mobile phones. Ericsson's platform and services will be configured to meet the specific needs of telecom operators, media companies and other service providers acting in the marketplace." FIFA Secretary General Jérome Valcke, says: We are working hard to make our football content available to as many people as possible, on as many platforms as possible. We trust that Ericsson's expertise and wide geographical reach will give our licensees a good opportunity to bring the excitement and action of various FIFA competitions to the mobile phones of fans all over the world." As an example of the tailored services that could be available, FIFA will be able to offer broadcasters a rich choice of programming ranging from live matches, recordings or highlights from selected events. The type of content on offer will range from basic information to advanced mobile TV and video solutions. "The agreement with FIFA is a good example of how Ericsson is expanding by doing business with completely new types of customer," says Patrik Regårdh, Ericsson's head of strategic marketing.* "When we think of content, we easily think of music or film. But big events, such as concerts and soccer, are also vital content in the minds of the public, and this is where we can expand the value of telecommunications,” says Regårdh. "For Ericsson it is something of a natural fit to team up with global players such as FIFA, and this enables us to increase the value of the experience both from a customer and business perspective, by delivering that experience through the networks and into the hands of more consumers."

Getting a mobile TV launch right

The public response to mobile TV services has been lackluster, yet some companies have high penetration levels. So what are the key ingredients of a successful launch?

The public response to mobile TV services has been lackluster, yet some companies have high penetration levels. So what are the key ingredients of a successful launch? Despite rapid growth in mobile-TV offerings worldwide, teething problems are still causing many mobile-TV viewers to switch off. An Ericsson ConsumerLab survey earlier this year revealed that up to 70 percent of mobile-TV users rated their services either “so-so” or “unsatisfying.” However, pioneering technology, innovative marketing, pricing models and tighter quality controls are helping operators improve services and explore this enormous market's full potential. Vodafone Spain was one the first companies to offer downloadable applications to handsets, which allow channels to be changed with a single click. More than 20 percent of the company's mobile-TV clients have used TV Zapping - an application with rapid channel switching and an electronic program guide - since its launch in March 2007. “People using this application are far more active than WAP users,” says David Martin, responsible for multimedia solutions and system integration at Ericsson Spain's Vodafone unit. “They account for 65 percent of all sessions, which clearly shows the positive effect of improving usability.” Vodafone Spain was particularly well placed to increase mobile-TV penetration in Spain because it has the country's highest 3G take-up with more than four million devices. The ability to offer relevant content was another essential ingredient of the successful launch, as were free promotions. The company teamed up with Digital +, a major satellite-television provider, to offer a bundle of channels free for several months. Free access to major sporting events, such as Formula 1 races, was also used to boost consumer interest. The cost of services is a key issue for users. According to Ericsson ConsumerLab, 60 percent of users surveyed said they would watch more mobile TV if it were cheaper. Vodafone Spain applies a flat rate of EUR 6 per month, attracting additional revenue from short advertising clips. “This is an extremely innovative approach,” says Mercedes Moran, solution architect at Ericsson Spain's Vodafone unit. “There are no nasty surprises for the end user at the end of the month.” Service quality is also critical because mobile-TV reception is highly sensitive to delays and packet loss. “There is intense competition between companies at the moment, and Vodafone Spain runs continuous quality audits aimed at preventing failed sessions,” says Moran. “You just cannot afford to have frozen screens or interruptions, or you'll lose users.” Vodafone Spain's TV Zapping service is a good example of how an operator can launch mobile TV successfully by keeping consumer needs and demands in focus.

Consuming mobile TV

Gone are the days where people sit back passively and watch TV. By accessing and participating in programs whenever and wherever they want, mobile TV is transforming the way consumers watch television.

Gone are the days where people sit back passively and watch TV. By accessing and participating in programs whenever and wherever they want, mobile TV is transforming the way consumers watch television. The time for mobile TV is now. By giving users the flexibility to access a variety of channels anytime, anywhere mobile TV is much more than just television on a small screen. For the YouTube generation, those 18 to 35-year-olds who thrive on Google Video, MySpace, Bebo and other user-generated content, mobile TV is about freedom and flexibility; they can tune in and turn on. And with the capability to watch TV either inside or outside the home, they can drop into any stream of daily life. This evolution in television is literally transforming consumer behavior. Early adopters don't just watch TV these days, they are watching TV, surfing the net, downloading music and chatting with friends - simultaneously. Mobile TV allows them to engage and be active, participate in the programs and customize what they're viewing while they are out and about in the same manner they have become accustomed to on the internet. Niclas Medman, marketing director, Media Solutions, Ericsson, says: "Evolved TV (mobile TV and IPTV) enables interactivity and personalization. This generation expects to consume the content it wants, when it wants, where it wants." "This behavior is very different from traditional viewing. The proactive approach indicates that consumers are actively interacting, selecting programs on-demand, ensuring that the TV format fits the available time they have, rather than sitting back and being passive." Whether it's engaging in a political debate aboard the metro in France, voting for your favorite pop star from a park in Sweden, or appearing in your own short film while on your bicycle in the Netherlands, mobile TV allows anyone to be an international correspondent, contest judge or film director. Ericsson believes that the real future of mobile content lies in the fact that mobile networks support two-way traffic: the consumption can turn interactive and personalized whenever and wherever users want. This technology puts the consumer at the controls, allowing them to publish, participate and pose questions. And the mobile TV boom has only just begun. Its potential on telecom networks is significant. By October 2006, there were considerably more than 2 billion mobile subscribers worldwide, and that number keeps growing. Research firm Analysys predicts that, in less than five years, mobile TV will reach about 200 million subscribers globally. Ericsson ConsumerLab research reveals that almost 40 percent of current mobile TV users use mobile TV on a daily basis. Participating, personalizing and empowering - mobile TV is becoming so popular it's like having the coolest kid on the block in your very own pocket.

Formula One live via mobile TV

Spanish fans of Formula One can watch this season's races live on their handsets thanks to HyC - part of the Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) group - in partnership with Boomerang TV and Spanish broadcast network Telecinco. The mobile TV service was launched in May.

July 15, 2008, 13:00 (CET) Spanish fans of Formula One can watch this season's races live on their handsets thanks to HyC - part of the Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) group - in partnership with Boomerang TV and Spanish broadcast network Telecinco. The mobile TV service was launched in May. Under the terms of the agreement, Ericsson's HyC supplies an end-to-end, scalable service including encoding, editing and transmission, which enables Boomerang TV and Telecinco to stream the Formula One races to mobile subscribers via live or scheduled repeat broadcast. HyC also provides related systems integration services. Live streaming to the consumer is a key aspect of the agreement. Viewers can enjoy personalized coverage and choose between live streaming and downloading selected moments of the races which are recorded, archived, managed and published automatically in real time as part of the service. Streamed via the first off-portal in Spain, the service will run through the Formula One season, which ends in early November. Manuel Villanueva, Content general manager at Telecinco, says: "Consumer demand for live mobile TV is increasing in line with technology improvements. Through this agreement with Ericsson's HyC, we can offer our customers a richer communications experience though a personalized and interactive service." Ingemar Naeve, President, Ericsson Iberia, says: "This agreement to launch Formula One on mobile TV marks an important step for Ericsson. It reaffirms our position as a key player in the multimedia arena, supported by strong systems integration capabilities. It also confirms our ability to enable dynamic content and provide end-to-end solutions, supported by our recent acquisitions such as HyC." Notes to editors: Ericsson's standard multimedia content is available at the broadcast room: www.ericsson.com/broadcast_room Ericsson is the world's leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. The market leader in 2G and 3G mobile technologies, Ericsson supplies communications services and manages networks that serve more than 195 million subscribers. The company's portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure, and broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and developers. The Sony Ericsson joint venture provides consumers with feature-rich personal mobile devices. Ericsson is advancing its vision of 'communication for all' through innovation, technology, and sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than 70,000 employees generated revenue of USD 27.9 billion (SEK 188 billion) in 2007. Founded in 1876 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm and NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.ericsson.com or www.ericsson.mobi. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Ericsson Media Relations Phone: +46 8 719 69 92 E-mail: press.relations@ericsson.com About Ericsson's HyC HyC - part of the Ericsson group - delivers IPTV and mobile TV consultancy and systems integration services to telecom service providers and media houses. The services provided include format transcoding and adaptation of mobile content. For more information, visit www.hyctv.com.

Mobile TV over 3G networks (PDF)

User interest in mobile TV services is growing thanks especially to the rapidly evolving multimedia capabilities of mobile terminals. Mobile operators are thus eyeing mobile TV services both as a new source of revenue and as a way of increasing customer loyalty.

User interest in mobile TV services is growing thanks especially to the rapidly evolving multimedia capabilities of mobile terminals. Mobile operators are thus eyeing mobile TV services both as a new source of revenue and as a way of increasing customer loyalty. This article looks at some key components of a mobile TV solution that capitalizes on the capabilities of third-generation (3G) networks – in particular, built-in support of unicast and broadcast transmission, which fosters and sustains a strong uptake of service.

Ericsson vision for mobile TV (video)

Get to know the Ericsson vision for mobile TV.

Get to know the Ericsson vision for mobile TV.

This is mobile TV (video)

Mobile TV from a consumer perspective.

Mobile TV from a consumer perspective.

IPTV and mobile-TV (audio)

Listen to how IPTV and mobile-TV are evolving into the Individual TV Experience. Interview with Peter Linder, Director Product Management Network Solutions.

Listen to how IPTV and mobile-TV are evolving into the Individual TV Experience. Interview with Peter Linder, Director Product Management Network Solutions.

Tuning into TV behaviour (audio)

What, when and how you want to watch; a new user experience is consuming television today. Kurt Sillen, Head of Ericsson Mobility World outlines key findings within mobile TV and the importance of consumer insight in a converging telecoms world.

What, when and how you want to watch; a new user experience is consuming television today. Kurt Sillen, Head of Ericsson Mobility World outlines key findings within mobile TV and the importance of consumer insight in a converging telecoms world.

Need for high speed (video)

Austrian operator Mobilkom is already seeing a surge in data services and MTS in Russia is preparing its networks for HSPA. Meanwhile, broadcasters and operators say TV opportunities are about being at the forefront of change. Ericsson customers and partners have their say on the business potential in telecoms.

Trends favor individualized TV

Consumers will demand from mobile TV the same flexibility and individualization they get with personal recording devices and the internet.

April 7, 2008 Martin Garner, director of wireless for consultants Ovum, says consumers will demand from mobile TV the same flexibility and individualization they get with personal recording devices and the internet. "People will prefer to go and get what they want, and at the time they want it, rather than shuffle through the channels to see what's on," Garner says. "You see that with things like automated banking and online shopping; there's a bigger, macro trend where you're no longer tied to the physical location of the shop or the time that it opens. "You can do what you like, when you like." Garner argues that business cases which rely on linear broadcasts with a limited channel structure will have difficulty succeeding. "All you can offer really is the mainstream top five, top 10 things, which addresses some of what's needed but misses large areas of the picture." He says operators should be guided by the "long-tail theory" of e-commerce that builds on the availability of niche or unlikely-hit items. "People will have to work out how to make that available on the mobile." Through Ericsson's acquisition of TANDBERG Television and its relationship with Sony, Garner says Ericsson "is involved in a number of areas that are relevant for this." He also points out that Sony has a "very large archive of video content and films, so there is quite a lot of interest in that." For the most part, he says, the success of a mobile TV business model will depend on how people define watching TV. "I'm in favor of the pick-and-choose business case," he says.

TV out of the box (video)

Television trends of the future are not all about the size of your flatscreen. Imagine if you could, the ability to tune in anywhere, any time and on any screen, for a personalized TV experience.

Televisionary kids (video)

Take part of the Televisionary kids' vision of their future TV.

Take part of the Televisionary kids' vision of their future TV.

Making money with TV (audio)

How can operators provide affordable yet profitable TV services? It is a big money question with substantial opportunities at stake. Interview with Jan Abrahamsson, head of Ericsson Business Consulting, who has experience on running several projects around the world with operators.

Open IPTV Forum

AT&T Inc., Ericsson, France Telecom, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Siemens Networks, Sony, and Telecom Italia today announced the founding of the Open IPTV Forum, an industry consortium that will work to define an interoperable end-to-end specification for delivery of IPTV services. Read the full Press Release by clicking on the below link

March 19, 2007, 10:19 (CET) AT&T Inc., Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC), France Telecom, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Siemens Networks, Sony, and Telecom Italia today announced the founding of the Open IPTV Forum, an industry consortium that will work to define an interoperable end-to-end specification for delivery of IPTV services. The forum, which is fully open to participation across the communications and entertainment industries, will focus on development of open standards that could help to streamline and accelerate deployments of IPTV technologies, and help to maximize the benefits of IPTV for consumers, network operators, content providers, service providers, consumer electronics manufacturers and infrastructure providers. While standardization bodies are already addressing specific elements of IPTV, the pan-industry Open IPTV Forum will work to aggregate today's diverse standards into a complete delivery solution, with the goal of accelerating the full standardization of IPTV-related technologies. The Open IPTV Forum plans to establish requirements and architecture specifications as well as protocol specifications later in 2007. The evolving IPTV service has many advantages, including personalization, interactivity and on-demand access for all forms of digital content. Unique possibilities exist for integration of content and communication services offered across mobile handsets and home devices. By ensuring the interoperability between consumer equipment and services compliant to the Open IPTV Forum's specification, the end users can easily access their choice of contents and services among multiple service providers. With this scope in mind, the Open IPTV Forum will work on the basis of suitable open-standards technologies, and will also address key technology elements such as content protection, necessary interfaces that allow IPTV services to be delivered over both managed network environment and the public Internet, and adequate measures to ensure interoperability between such services and retail consumer devices. Candidates include, but are not limited to: IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA Initially the Forum will consist of the founding member companies, but will be open for other companies at a later date.

Television turns individual

Future TV consumers will want their TV experience to be personal and interactive, available anytime, anywhere, and on any device.

February 12, 2008 Ericsson has identified the individual TV experience as the concept that will drive business growth for operators over the next 10 years. To deliver the individual TV experience, the whole telecom industry will go through a massive strategic shift, requiring out-of-the-box thinking, new business approaches, flexible organizations and proven technologies. Ericsson individualized the telecommunication experience by making Full Service Broadband a reality. Jan Wäreby, Senior Vice President and Head of Ericsson’s Multimedia organization, says Ericsson is now moving toward an individualized TV experience. “Now we are enabling people to personalize the way they watch television,” Wäreby says. “This means TV can be watched anywhere, on any device, and on all types and sizes of screen. This also means freedom, choice and control for the consumer.” Research carried out by Ericsson's ConsumerLab has found that the main target group for future TV services is made up of “digital natives” - young, energetic and global consumers who have grown up with ubiquitous connectivity, an explosion of digital content and a strong desire to connect. “To give these consumers the TV experience they want, personalization and interactivity are not the only requirements,” Wäreby says. “TV also needs to be easy to use, affordable and of high quality. “Our commitment to the individual TV experience can be seen today in our open-architecture approach to full-service broadband, ecosystem leadership, and the overarching solution offering we are bringing to market,” Wäreby says. Kurt Jofs, Head of Ericsson's Networks organization, says that Ericsson’s customers need high-capacity networks with both fixed and mobile access to be able to deliver the individual TV experience to consumers. “In order to differentiate your TV services you need a powerful network. We call that network full-service broadband,” he says. “IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is an intelligent service platform that enables interactivity and convergence between communication and TV services. IMS is a key component in the evolution to the individual TV experience,” Jofs says. In addition to the technological solutions and consumer insight, Ericsson has a Global Services organization with 29,500 service professionals and a Prime Integrator offer that can help operators to deploy and integrate their TV services in the future. “In the Global Services organization, we have systems integration professionals including TV experts spread around the world, close to customers,” says Franck Bouetard, head of Systems Integration and Telecom Management Solutions at Ericsson’s Global Services organization. Ericsson has already deployed more than 60 mobile TV and video solutions and more than 180 IPTV commercial and trial contracts for its customers. Bouetard says the acquisitions of TANDBERG Television, Redback, Marconi and Entrisphere have strengthened Ericsson’s total offering. “We deliver and integrate end-to-end TV solutions starting from the TV headend; middleware, routers and transport, fiber, copper or radio-based access. We also customize portals from leading suppliers to provide a superior consumer experience,” he says. “We also integrate related solutions to manage the services in terms of provisioning, quality of services and charging to ensure a real end-to-end TV solution and meet consumer expectations of the experience.”

CNN and Ericsson reveal key findings

Mobile TV tops consumer wish list for new handsets, news leads genre viewing patterns and photo technology ranks highest for frequency of use are the key findings from joint international mobile TV research study performed by CNN and Ericsson. Read the full Press Release by clicking on the below link

February 12, 2008, 09:00(CET) Mobile TV tops consumer wish list for new handsets, news leads genre viewing patterns and photo technology ranks highest for frequency of use are the key findings from joint international mobile TV research study performed by CNN and Ericsson. Mobile TV use is set to surge due to strong consumer demand, with the service ranked as the number one application users want on their phone, according to a consumer behaviour study conducted by Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and the #1 international news broadcaster, CNN. The results show more than a third (34%) of respondents rankingTV as the most in-demand application and almost half (44%) of the respondents poised to adopt mobile TV in the next two years. Key findings also revealed that photo and video messaging look to be set for wide-scale adoption as consumer pricing and functionality improves. 57% of respondents use photo technology to send and receive images on a monthly basis, making it the most popular activity. This trend is mirrored by popularity of CNN International's user-generated content service iReport, which launched in 2006. The service garnered 50,000 submissions, including mobile phone footage and images, from 189 countries worldwide in its first twelve months, driving the worldwide trend for 'citizen journalism' and giving audiences a deeper connection to network news. According to the report, nearly one in four (24%) current mobile TV users watch daily with around half (52%) tuning in on a weekly basis. At 77%, news leads genre viewing patterns, followed by scheduled television at 48%. "The results of this research underscores CNN's commitment to lead the rapidly changing trends that influence the way our audience consumes content", commented Didier Mormesse, SVP CNN International Ad Sales Research, Development & Audience Insight. "We've enjoyed considerable growth in our mobile business over the past few years and continue to invest in industry-leading initiatives and new services. Research like this enables us to really get under the skin of what our consumers want, so our digital strategy satisfies our audience's appetite for top quality news content when they're on the move." Jan Wäreby, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Unit Multimedia Ericsson, says: "Although still in its infancy, mobile TV is clearly set to emerge as a popular service within the next few years. Driven by consumer appetite for the service, together with new usage patterns, mobile TV represents one of the biggest networked multimedia opportunities for cable and telecoms operators." In 2007, CNN International unveiled its new ad supported mobile service. CNN Mobile allows users to stay informed wherever they are and even access CNN's 'In The Field' blogs from the network's international correspondents. CNN International's investment in meeting the needs of changing audience consumption habits included the implementation of a digital research group in 2007 to measure how audiences are consuming CNN across non-linear devices such as the internet, mobile and IPTV. CNN International's recent digital initiatives include content sharing partnerships with top tier web-TV programming portals and a re-branding of CNN.com. At a time when advertisers are looking for innovative multi-platform brand solutions, CNN International can provide insight into its global users, media and market trends, as well as providing accurate data to clients internationally. Notes to editors Percentages rounded to nearest whole percent. *Multiple responses recorded, therefore figures exceed 100 percent. Research conducted for Ericsson and CNN International by Synovate. Sample was 981 respondents. Responses were collected between August 15 and September 15, 2007.

Televisionary promotion (video)

Watch the Televisionary film created for Mobile World Congress 2008.

Watch the Televisionary film created for Mobile World Congress 2008.

Mobile TV on consumer wish list (audio)

Amongst analysts and experts there are both sceptics and supporters of Mobile TV. Ericsson has asked the consumers what they think in a joint international study with US broadcaster CNN. Interview with Bob Schukai, vice president Wireless and Broadband Technologies at Turner Broadcasting System Inc.

Making the smart tube work for you (PDF)

Internet Protocol television (IPTV) and mobile TV –both providing an evolved television experience –are expected to generate USD 41 billion per year by 2011. For operators the challenge is to select a technology to provide the full range of TV-related services that customers demand, establish a business model, and set a price structure that will assures a fair share of the revenue pie.

Understanding the digital natives (PDF)

They don’t behave like your traditional customers, and they’re about to enter your market and your workplace – the digital natives. Blurring the boundaries between work and private life, they are tomorrow’s most powerful media consumers and professionals. You better get to know them now.