China formulates national standard for mobile TV

The China National Standardization Administration (CNSA) -- in association with the National Development & Reform Commission, the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), the State Administration of Radio, Film & Television (SARFT), and a number Chinese enterprises -- is assessing and formulating a national standard for mobile TV, with reference to the five popular local standards in China: the DMB-TH standard from Tsinghua University, the T-MMB standard from Beijing Coastline, the CMB standard from Huawei Technologies, the CMMB standard from SARFT, and the CDMB standard from the China Radio Standardization Association.

The CNSA is attempting to accommodate the interests of all concerned parties, from which the working group is currently soliciting views and suggestions. According to some analysts, the Chinese government may eventually adopt a more flexible approach, and the new standard may be non-mandatory. Regardless of the final outcome, the government's involvement is likely to help resolve some of differences between the concerned parties, as well as to clarify any confusion that has arisen as a consequence of having various standards available on the market.

Of the different mobile TV standards available in China, the CMMB, DMB-TH, T-MMB and CDMB standards are currently supported by SARFT; while the TD-MBMS and CMB standards are supported by the Department of Telecom. In addition, the DMB standard from Korea, the DVB-H standard from Europe, and Qualcomm of the US are also hoping to become established in China's national mobile TV market. SARFT has also launched its own mobile TV standard and plans to start testing in six of the cities where the Beijing Olympics events will be held. The Department of Telecom and its companies have not announced any concrete plans, but are understood to be pushing forward with their own standards.

The competition between SARFT and the Department of Telecom has not stopped despite the government's involvement. In August, a spokesperson for SARFT said that the government had asked SARFT to take a leading role in the development of China's mobile TV industry, as this is a new kind of media service. The Department of Telecom and telecom operators, however, have said they are not aware of any such request.

Urgency for National Mobile TV Standard
Other countries have already made significant progress in developing mobile TV standards. For example, in Korea the DMB standard (including S-DMB and T-DMB) introduced in 2005 already has several million users; and in Japan, since the launch of mobile TV services in April 2006, a total of 7 million mobile phones with mobile TV functions had been sold by March this year, and this figure is expected to increase to 27 million in early 2008. In Europe, the DVB-H standard is commercially available.

In China, through the efforts of SARFT and the Department of Telecom, some consensus has been reached between the different standards. However, due to the lack of a common standard, manufacturers are reluctant to start production, which has delayed the development of mobile TV in China. With the approach of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the need to finalize the mobile TV standard as soon as possible is now pressing.

Huge Potential in Mobile TV Market
According to In-Stat, the number of mobile TV users in China will grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 315% in the next five years, with the number soaring to 94 million by 2009.

China's handset manufacturers have been lagging behind their foreign competitors because they have not been in possession of the technologies for making the key semiconductor components for handsets, which are seen as the most profitable part of the handset business. Mobile TV is likely to become a key driver for the 3G handset market, and a national mobile TV standard will certainly provide new opportunities for China's chip makers. According to industry experts, the rapid development and deployment of 3G services in China will drive strong growth in the production of the key components for handsets. Chinese chip makers hope that 3G chips will allow them an opportunity to break the monopoly held by foreign chip makers for such a long time.

As the supply chain of the 3G industry further develops, there will be stronger demand for key components for handsets. Today, Chinese chip makers such as Spreadtrum Communications, Shanghai COMMIT and CYIT have already developed a number of semiconductor solutions based on China's self-developed TD-SCDMA. With the support of Chinese chip makers, handset manufacturers such as Datang Mobile, Lenovo, Amoi, Hisense, OKWAP, and Haier have developed more than 20 types of TD-SCDMA terminal. These products have significantly improved the competitiveness of China's telecom industry. As one of the services for the Beijing Olympics, the national standard for mobile TV will soon be unveiled.

Source: Tech-On