(11 February 2008 3:00 pm)

MUMBAI: At the 2008 Mobile World Congress (MWC), which kicked off today in Barcelona, players from the digital video broadcasting - satellite services to handhelds (DVB-SH) ecosystem (Alcatel-Lucent, DiBcom, Eutelsat, Sagem Mobiles, SES Astra, TeamCast and UDcast) - are joining forces to deliver the first demonstration of live mobile TV in S-Band, based on DVB-SH covering the whole Fira premises in Barcelona.

The demonstration will use DVB-SH ready Sagem myMobileTV handsets from Sagem Mobiles, empowered by DiBcom's DVB-SH receiver prototypes.

The S-Band signal will be made available by Alcatel-Lucent throughout the Fira, thanks to a terrestrial repeater network using technological elements from TeamCast (DVB-SH modulators) and UDcast (DVB-SH IP encapsulators).

Abertis will provide support for the installation of repeaters, cables and antennas and to access the content.

Eutelsat will provide the satellite capacity for the distribution to the DVB-SH terrestrial repeater network of various live mobile TV channels including CNBC, La Sexta, Canal 300, Nickelodeon, 40 Latino, 24h TVE, Teledeporte and Telecinco Sport.

The DVB-SH standard is an evolution of the DVB-H standard that offers three benefits: a greater choice in terms of spectrum (up to 3GHz); a better spectrum efficiency, directly translating into significant cost savings; a possible hybrid satellite/terrestrial operation, to extend mobile broadcast reach all across a territory.

Its technical specifications were announced by the DVB Project last year.

In Europe, DVB-SH will use the S-Band, a frequency band at 2.2GHz available across many European countries, and Europe's first S-Band space segment owned by a joint venture company of Eutelsat, and SES Astra will be launched in the first quarter of 2009.

The S-Band enables the use of the DVB-SH standard and is adjacent to the UMTS band, thus allowing reuse of existing cellular sites, towers and antennas.

In the US, the first DVB-SH operation will also be based on a hybrid system at 2.2GHz, with an S-Band satellite to be launched by ICO Global Communications in March 2008.