(28 August 2009 8:55 pm)

MUMBAI: Telegent Systems, the television mobile manufacturer company, has provided further commentary on the In-Stat report that estimates a worldwide user base of 54 million 'free-to-air' analog mobile TV consumers in 2009, signaling the long-awaited arrival of mobile TV in the global mass market.

Telegent believes that the free-to-air mobile TV model, which has proven to be extremely popular with consumers in analog markets, can be successfully applied in both analog and digital TV markets particularly as handset models that address regional free-to-air digital terrestrial TV standards become available.

According to In-Stat VP - research Frank Dickson, analogue mobile TV has two very fundamental and compelling advantages - cost and availability. "The infrastructure is already in place, there are no new standards that need to be enacted and the service is free to consumers - a very powerful combination."

The mobile TV industry has experimented with a number of different business models in recent years; however, analogue free-to-air is the first model to realise substantial and rapid global traction, extending the mobile TV success already realised in Japan and Korea to the global marketplace. In the space of just two years, free-to-air analog mobile TV has accelerated consumer adoption of mobile TV, transforming it into a mass market proposition.

The analyst firm Forward Concepts estimates that free-to-air analogue mobile TV handsets will account for more than half of all broadcast TV handsets shipped in 2009, and In-Stat expects this market segment to reach 300 million users by 2013. Telegent's free-to-air mobile TV technology has played a significant role in driving this rapid consumer adoption globally.

Telegent Systems president and CEO Weijie Yun says, "Despite the switchover from analog to digital in the US and Europe, 85 per cent of the world's population is still dependent on analogue TV signals. The success of free-to-air mobile TV technology in developing markets where the analog broadcast TV is prevalent demonstrates the potential for the free-to-air mobile TV business model on a global basis, including markets where analog to digital broadcast TV conversions have already occurred."

Telegent's single-chip mobile TV solutions provide operators and manufacturers with a cost-effective approach to mobile TV delivery. The free-to-air mobile TV feature takes advantage of the existing broadcast TV ecosystem, removing the need for capital investment from operators or broadcasters in infrastructure, spectrum or content. The feature can be implemented in a wide variety of handsets and price points.

As a result, the free-to-air mobile TV model enables broad availability to consumers in all markets, and is not limited to the high-end phone segment.