Hong Kong trials DVB-H

Hong Kong operator PCCW has expanded its existing mobile TV offering to trial Motorola’s DVB-H system for six months.

The trial will run from September to March 2007 within Hong Kong’s Quarry Bay district and will include Motorola DVB-H enabled mobile devices, network solutions and interactive services platform.

Back in May, PCCW began broadcasting real-time TV over its 3G network to 110,000 mobile subscribers. In a pilot of Cell Multimedia Broadcast technology, PCCW is broadcasting programmes from its IPTV service, known as ‘now TV’, to trialists on its 3G network.

But PCCW may be fighting an uphill struggle. Although consumers believe mobile TV is an exciting prospect, they are not believed to be convinced of its usability.

Research house WaveMetrix looked at consumer attitudes towards mobile TV during March by monitoring online discussion relating to leading mobile TV providers. The most discussed topic was quality of audio and video. Usability was also identified as a key problem with consumers citing heavy battery usage and frequent connection problems, the researcher said.