Wi-Fi will boost mobile TV revenues to reach $7 bn by 2015

The sudden spurt in next generation networks like 3G, BWA, 4G and LTE in recent times have in turn given a boost to the telecom and ICT industry, helping the floundering technologies like IPTV, VoIP and unified communications gain steam.

Whilemobile TVhas been through some tough times recently due to issues with respect to policy control and data traffic offload, the coming of BWA is set to push broadband penetration, and help in liberalizing government policy, according to the industry.

Fueling such hopes is a new report published by Juniper Research, which supports the industry perspective that a surge in applications which can take advantage of the increasing availability of freeWi-Fiservices are set to boost the global mobile TV industry with anticipated revenues of nearly $7 bn by 2015.

As per the report, mobile TV traffic over Wi-Fi is expected to see an increase of 25 times during 2010-2015, thanks to the increase in live streaming and also the rise in smartphones usage.

While in India,Ideawas the first to launch mobile TV,BSNLalso offers live streaming of matches and music downloads. The players-like Samsung with its Corby TV,Tata Photon Plus offering HD TV on an HSPA network, andApalya, which offers eighty regional and international TV channels on a mobile platform-have been steadily gaining popularity. And they are expected to see a sharp rise with 3G and BWA, the latter which is expected to drive the transition from voice to data in India.

While creation of personal Wi-Fi hotspots is possible with higher bandwidth availability, unified communications will also get a boost with increase in Wi-Fi usage.

Says Sanjay Gupta, director, enterprise,Avaya,“With Wi-Fi, one can connect several devices to one's personal network, as in the case of unified communications. Also it is possible to have anywhere accessibility and connectivity. For example, having a single number one can route calls from landline to cell phones and vice-versa, as well as transfer the conversation from a fixed phone to mobile, without any interruption, or connectivity issues.”

However, the Juniper report notes that despite the capacity relief that Wi-Fi offers to cellular networks, increase in mobile TV usage will still put stress on 3G and 3.5G networks, especially in times of peak usage. Thus, the report suggests that while the deployment ofLTE networks will reduce congestion, a better alternative may be the use of unpaired spectrum.

berylm@cybermedia.co.in