Digital Television, Part II: Global status

We already tried to make a bit of sense of the global digital television (DTV) salmagundi in Digital Television, Part 1: Making Sense of it all. Now, let's look at the DTV implementation status on a global scale affecting your living room TV and future, mobile handheld devices shall we? First, we should look at how DVB-T and DAB implementations are progressing globally since these are the underlying technologies for DVB-H and T-DMB respectively — thus giving us a hint, but by no means dictating future country selections for digital TV on mobile handheld devices.

First DVB-T (click the picture for a larger view):

And now DAB (click the picture for a larger view -- warning: PDF link):

So based on these graphics, you can imagine Samsung, LG and the rest of the T-DMB camp all hunkered down in their red jerseys ready to battle Nokia and the ravenous DVB-H posse kitted-out in dark-blue. That makes MediaFLO skins then, though we shudder to think of the Qualcomm execs shirtless but we digress. It's easy to see why a standards war is a-brewin with western Europe equal parts red and blue i.e., both DAB and DVB-T services operational. Click on for more.
So let’s drill down country-by-country and look at how digital TV rollouts are progressing globally. The following tables aren’t exhaustive, but they do capture those furtherest along their DTV deployment path.

First, those countries who have adopted DVB-T:

DVB-T Countries	Service Launch	Analog Switch Off	Mobile Reception
Australia	2001	2011 proposed — pay TV providers agree to 2007	Jul 2005 trial started in Sydney with Nokia, Telstra, and The Bridge Networks T-DMB:none
Belgium	2003 Flanders (Antwerp) 2005 Wallonia (Brussels)	2010 (at the latest)	DVB-H: none T-DMB: none
Finland (home of Nokia)	Oct 2002	Aug 2007	DVB-H: Mar-Jun 2005 trial conducted in Helsinki with Nokia, Sonera, Elisa, and Digita T-DMB: none
France	Mar 2005 free-to-air, 2005/06 pay TV	2010	DVB-H: Early 2005 trial conducted in Cannes with TDF and Nokia Sep 2005 launches three trials in Paris with Nokia, SFR, France Telecom, Orange, TDF, TPS, and Canal all taking part in the action T-DMB: Oct 2005 trial started in Paris with TF1, VDL, Samsung and Perstel
Germany (home of 2006 FIFA World Cup)	Mar 2003	2010 (already started for some regions)	DVB-H: Sep 2005 trial started in Berlin with Microsoft, DFL, Bundesliga T-DMB: Q1 2006 T-DMB trial starting in Regensburg
Italy	Jan 2006	2006 (start)	DVB-H: Starting in 2006 via Telecom Italia Mobile and Mediaset T-DMB: testing or trials underway
Netherlands	Nov 2003	2004 (start) 2006 (complete)	DVB-H: Jul 2005 trial started in the Hague with Nokia, KPN, Digitenne, and Nozema Services T-DMB: testing or trials underway
Spain	Nov 2005	2010	DVB-H: Oct 2005 trial started in Madrid and Barcelona by Nokia, Abertis Telecom, and Telefonica Moviles T-DMB: testing or trials underway
Sweden (home of Ericsson)	Sep 1999	2008 (already started in some regions)	DVB-H: none, er, maybe because Ericsson backs DMB. T-DMB: none, which is strange since Nokia arch-rival, Ericsson backs DMB
Switzerland	2005	2015	DVB-H: Nov 2005 trial started in Bern with Nokia and Swisscom T-DMB: none
Taiwan	2005	2006	DVB-H: Trials to start by Jan 2006 in Taipei with Nokia, CTS, CHT, and CMC Magnetics T-DMB: none
United Kingdom	Nov 1998	2007 (start) 2012 (complete)	DVB-H: Sep 2005 trial started in Oxford with Nokia, O2, Arqiva, and Sony Semiconductors and Electronic Solutions T-DMB: Jun 2005 trial started in London with BT, Virgin Mobile, and HTC

And now those pesky ATSC countries. The US and South Korea are furthest along here, with Canada and Mexico yet to set hard time lines for analog switch off let alone offering definitive plans for reception of DTV on mobile handsets.

While things look all rosy to us on the periphery, South Korea’s mobile DTV status is actually quite convoluted since their version of terrestrial DMB is (gasp) different from the more generic version developed within the world DAB forum. However, the two DAB variants are very similar and are expected to use the same device hardware. Also, South Korea is running both satellite DMB and terrestrial DMB services. S-DMB is nationwide operating at 2.6 GHz thus requiring heaps of terrestrial transmitter dishes scattered about cities in order to keep signals flowing around buildings and underground. As a bonus though, those higher frequencies mean very small antennas (which we love) on S-DMB mobile devices. T-DMB is operated as a regional service at the low, low 200 MHz frequency, thus requiring those big ol’ telescoping antennas we hate.

So ATSC countries look a little somethin’ like this:

ATSC Countries	Service Launch	Analog Switch Off	Mobile Reception
United States	Nov 1998	2009 (proposed)	DVB-H: Oct 2004 trial started in Pittsburgh with CrownCastle and Nokia Q1 2006 Crown Castle's Modeo will begin delivering their commercial mobile TV service over Crown’s L-Band (1670-1675 MHz) owned frequencies covering the top 30 US markets by 2007 T-DMB: DAB-based DMB is the dark horse in The States with a shot of entering the race via XM’s satellite radio service (2.3 GHz) in partnership with DirectTV who announced in November plans to work with “an array of partners” to bring video to devices other than televisions. MediaFLO: 2006 QUALCOMM and Verizon Wireless expect to launch mobile TV services over the MediaFLO network in approximately half of the 171 metro areas already covered by Verizon Wireless’ EV-DO-based broadband network
South Korea (home of DMB)	2001	2010	DVB-H: no way, this is South Korea! T-DMB: Dec 2005 terrestrial service launched by the country’s major cable news, radio and TV broadcasters S-DMB: May 2005 satellite service launched by SK Telecom and TU Media

And just for kicks, let’s throw down the stats for Japan who have rolled out their proprietary ISDB-T solution yet are fervent supporters of T-DMB…outside of Japan anyway. Brazil is also considering ISDB-T after finding it superior to both DVB-T and ATSC for their needs.

ISDB-T Countries	Service Launch	Analog Switch Off	Mobile Reception
Japan	2003	2011	DVB-H: none T-DMB: none ISDB-T: Launched consumer service in Oct, 2004 dubbed MobaHO! (quit snickering)

Tomorrow, digital TV device pr0n!

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 22nd 2006 4:26PM]

Malta to start T-DMB trials by August 2006. Commercial services by end of year.

[lulianping Posted Dec 2nd 2009 9:58PM]

As batteries improve and fuel cells become available I think DVB-T, ISDB-T and the possible Chinese standard, DMB-T will become dominant for fixed, portable and mobile reception.
http://www.laptopbatteryclub.com/

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 27th 2007 7:44AM]

Hi,
Can anyone tell me about some future studies of DVB-H and DMB technologies and if possible about if there any simulation related to them.

I am just a new bee in this field and need to do a depth study on the both technology to propose some future studies.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 18th 2006 4:29PM]

I want the next part! this is being really explanatory

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 18th 2006 4:33PM]

I want the next part! this is being really explanatory

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 18th 2006 4:44PM]

I want the next part! this is being really explanatory

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 18th 2006 5:22PM]

great article. can you pls fill us in on how subscription content fits into these standards. i remember the UK had onDigital (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/140880.stm) which was terrestrial pay TV. this required some sort of decryption card in the set top box. is this part of the standard, i.e. will I be able to take my decryption card and use it in any "standard" receiver: set-top box, tv with integrated tuner, PCI tuner in my PC?
same question again for subscription mobile content - will be available encrypted over RF?

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 18th 2006 6:10PM]

um... where is Japan in the second image/pdf? Check it out, its missing...

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 18th 2006 6:28PM]

Quote: T-DMB: Jun 2005 trial started in London with BT, Virgin Mobile, and HTC

Ha, I worked on this trial (Pilot actually, as this is a proven concept) as I work for Virgin Mobile.

The idea is simple, we used a modified HTC Feeler (aka: i-mate SP3i, Qtek 8020, T-Mob SDA) with integrated DAB receiver. The DAB receiver fed into Windows Media Player, and via 3x64kb streams we had 3 different TV channels playing live* (*Give or take 10-15secs). The system also feeds an EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) stream and has overhead for trickle downloads.

The streams are transmitted via the normal DAB transmission network, on bandwidth allocated for Data only under the licening agreement with the DTI in the UK.

Content is controlled using Windows DRM licensing, and licences could be downloaded directly with WAP or via push-message. This would allow for daily, weekly, monthly subscriptions, or one-off packages based on time/s viewed.

No reliance is placed upon the mobile network, or its infrastructure, apart from the re-selling and supply of licences to view content transmitted and any support required for the device used.

In my opinion, this system is better as no reliance is placed on the 3G network operator, it is simply a feed from a free to air DAB network with national coverage in the UK.

mossop

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 18th 2006 6:42PM]

In Spain the DVB-T service started in 2000 with QuieroTV. (a pay TV)

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 18th 2006 8:02PM]

For those interested in DVB implementation in their country, if not listed above, the official DVB site is very useful.
http://www.dvb.org/about_dvb/dvb_worldwide/
Alternatively, for more general digital television implementaton by country, the wikipedia has a comprehensive list.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_digital_television_deployments_by_country

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 19th 2006 12:33AM]

Let's all cross our fingers for Greenland to make it past the trials stage.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 19th 2006 2:12AM]

What about the TDtv that was discussed in an earlier engadget article from today? Looks like SprintNextel has invested quite a bit of cash into it...

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 19th 2006 3:36AM]

I would like to add that my little island : MAURITIUS.. has alredy pass on to Digital TV.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 19th 2006 4:24AM]

Well, the maps have some flaws. Norway have a very limited DAB coverage (http://www.norkring.no/htmldoc/tekniskdab.html), Sweden has rejected DAB as a digital solution, based on enviromental concerns, and technology limitations and is reverting to FM, and Denmark is concidering walking the path of Sweden.

At least in Norway the telecompanies don't distribute to much information about the nextgen mobile TV, and just states that it's comming.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 19th 2006 6:57AM]

#10 - that's not really correct. Norway has 70% coverage today, and it'll reach 80% by the end of the year. Sweden has built a DAB-network with 85% coverage, but most of it is switched off while they try to figure out if they really want to use it or not.
Denmark has about 80% coverage today, and they've just decided to extend this to 100% by the end of the year.

In addition, Norwegian broadcaster, NRK, has pretty much decided to use DMB instead of DVB-H, so the Norwegian digital terrestrial mediafuture seems to include DVB-T, DAB and DMB.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 19th 2006 7:15AM]

Norway is also using DVB-T. Test transmissions has been going on for a couple of years, and they'll start building a DVB-T network this year. Analogue TV will be switched off in 2010.

Norway is also using DAB for radio, and at the moment, it seems likely that they'll use DMB for handheld video.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 19th 2006 7:24AM]

I think the article is a bit unclear on the relationship between DVB-T and DVB-H. It seems to take it for granted that DVB-H will be transmitted with DVB-T transmitters, along with regular DVB-T channels. Now, while this is indeed possible, it's not a very good solution, and it's likely that DVB-H will be broadcast with a separate DVB-H network.

The DVB-H handbook states that DVB-H should have its own multiplexes:

http://www.dvb-h-online.org/PDF/DigiTAG-DVB-H-Handbook.pdf

--8

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 19th 2006 7:27AM]

Oops - I screwed up the quote from the DVB-H handbook. Here it is:

The preference for exclusively DVB-H multiplexes

Mobile handheld receivers have much smaller antennas than those used for fixed or portable television. In addition, mobile handheld receivers must be able to receive a signal from a variety of different locations and sometimes at high-speeds, for example in trains or in cars.
These factors need to be compensated by making existing networks more dense and selecting more robust modulation parameters. Therefore, the co-existence of DVB-T and DVB-H services in a single channel, although technically possible, is unlikely to be ideal.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 30th 2006 3:59PM]

DVB-H was developed mainly to handle the power problem inherent in having a cell phone with a small battery receive DTV. DVB-T can be used for mobile and portable delivery and works very well but draws more power.

As batteries improve and fuel cells become available I think DVB-T, ISDB-T and the possible Chinese standard, DMB-T will become dominant for fixed, portable and mobile reception. The question is when will the US, Canada and Mexico smell the coffee and switch to the world standard DVB-T or even DMB-T. The fact that Mexico and Canada have delayed any real action on implementing 8-VSB says to me that they are not all that excited about the disasterous US standard. I expect them to bolt from 8-VSB.

Brazil, again, has rejected 8-VSB and will choose between ISDB-T and DVB-T. Since they have been rational in the past I expect them to go with DVB-T.

Here is a video of DVB-T mobile reception in New York from one transmitter at 400 ft and one kW. We were using 3 inch and 12 inch omni antennas. No SFN, no additional on channel repeaters, just one small transmitter. One, back of seat, is a diversity receiver with two antennas. It is capable of handling six. The other two are single omni antennas.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 30th 2006 4:02PM]

Forgot to include the video

http://www.viacel.com/bob.wmv

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 6th 2006 5:37AM]

Taiwan is not a country!
Use countries/areas instead of countries!