DISH will trial satellite-based mobile TV using Alcatel-Lucent gear

In another boon to the expanding DVB-SH ecosystem, DISH Network and Alcatel-Lucent today announced they will test the new hybrid satellite-terrestrial mobile broadcast technology in the United States starting in May of this year. The move is generating speculation about how DISH’s plans might coincide with its recent purchase of 700 MHz spectrum.

The trials will take place in DISH’s labs in Atlanta and will run from May to August 2008. Using Alcatel-Lucent’s Digital Video Broadcast-Satellite services to Handheld equipment, test tools and training, the objective of the trials is to validate the performance and cost-efficiency of the DVB-SH standard, DISH officials said. The planned trials come within weeks of telecom entrepreneur Craig McCaw’s ICO Global Communications launching a DVB-SH satellite into orbit in preparation for its own mobile TV launch next year.

DVB-SH uses the same S-band, L-band or UHF spectrum to transmit both from space and on the ground. The standard has a larger screen resolution and 500 kb/s channel capacity – twice that of DVB-H, making it a desirable alternative, but also packing more of a punch than may be needed on small cell-phone screens. It is a derivitive of parent standard DVB-H, originally backed by Aloha Partners and Crown Castle, both of which planned nationwide networks, but shut down or were sold off after unsuccessful trials.

Just last month, the European Commission made DVB-H the standard for mobile TV in Europe. To date, it has not seen that much traction in the US due to competing standards and Qualcomm’s dominant market position with its MediaFLO mobile TV standard.

In light of mounting competition from cablecos and IPTV service providers, DISH has been exploring alternative sources of revenue. It spent more than $700 million on 168 wireless licenses in the 700 MHz auction but has yet to state its intended plans for the spectrum. If mobile TV is the answer, DISH will still have to wait for the spectrum’s current tenants, television broadcasters, to relinguish their ownership by next year.

DISH may also face problems with its footprint. DISH’s licenses only cover 76% of the US population, as Qualcomm took key licenses in major US cities to amplify its MediaFLO mobile TV service. A satellite blanketing the US with a broadcast signal would interfere with MediaFLO in Qualcomm’s markets. Meanwhile its satellite TV Ku-band spectrum is too high-frequency, and thus not permitted, for terrestrial use. Current Analysis analyst Peter Jarich said DISH’s options are to find a method of spot-beaming its technology to avoid interfering with Qualcomm’s spectrum in its own markets or look into buying new spectrum from another player.

“Coming this quick off the 700 MHz auction, it’s a safe bet that this is an application DISH is looking at it for,” Jarich said. “Plus, the idea that 700 MHz is a great technology for looking at the terrestrial component of mobile TV, you can cover so much area with just two transmitters. They seem to be a good fit, it is just the technical issues of not being able to have national coverage and what that means from a service perspective and from a regulatory and licensing perspective.”

Either way, Jarich said this win for Alcatel-Lucent is significant both for the promise of the DVB-SH standard’s momentum and for the company itself. “It is pretty impressive and nice to see the technology get more momentum behind it,” he said. “It is the snowball effect… I think we’ll see the possibility of this picking up interest in other places. It is probably one of the biggest wins for Alcatel Lucent, getting a couple of high-profile endorsements. Not a full endorsement saying they’ll launch it and go forward, but still taking the dark horse and making it more respectful.”