Portuguese mobile service provider Optimus late last month launched an HD mobile television service, which it is delivering over a UMTS/HSDPA network in partnership with Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia and public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão Portuguesa (RTP).
Optimus is promoting the launch by deploying a free HD mobile channel, RTP Mobile, to its customers through the end of this month. Customers can access the service through the Optimus Zone section on the company’s Web site or by sending the SMS text message “Mobile TV HD” to 1293 (in Portugal only).
According to Joana Ribeiro da Silva, residential market director of Optimus Data Services, the encoding is “twice as superior” as that used for most mobile TV services, allowing for high-quality video images and sound. She added that the service’s videos feature three times as many pixels as typical mobile TV services, with a frame rate of 25fps (the minimum rate for the service is 15fps). The total bit rate of the service is 250Kb/s.
Currently, the service is only available to Optimus customers using Nokia N95 phones, though Optimus is planning to add more HD channels in upcoming months.
For more information, visit www.optimus.pt.
