Dubai Media City (DMC), the Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based regional and international media hub, recently announced that it was testing a mobile TV service based on the DVB-H standard.
DMC, along with trial partners du, a UAE telco operator, and broadcasters Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) and Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC), in June outfitted 500 participants with Nokia N92 and N77 handsets and are broadcasting a mixture of sports, music, entertainment, business and news programming across 12 channels. Programming outlets include Dubai TV, Dubai Sports, BBC World and Bloomberg, among others.
With the support of Nokia, Rhode & Schwarz and T-Systems, DMC and its partners have set up a single frequency network (SFN) comprising three transmission sites for the trial. Using an SFN helps ensure good signal coverage both indoors and outdoors.
The trial is examining the technical and commercial viability of DVB-H mobile television broadcasting for the UAE market, part of a larger mission to introduce next-generation technologies for the advancement of the Middle East’s media industry. According to a press statement, technical evaluation of the system, handsets and signal coverage has already been “successfully completed.”
Also being evaluated are users’ content, channel, timing and location preferences, with an eye toward creating refined and customized mobile TV packages for viewers. To this end, the Pan Arab Research Center (PARC) has begun conducting market research related to the trial.
For more information, visit www.dubaimediacity.com.
