Dish Network To Conduct Mobile TV Test
U.S. Summer Initiative Will Use European Technology, Alcatel-Lucent Equipment, Tools
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 4/24/2008 11:34:00 AM
Dish Network said it will test a European mobile TV broadcast technology in the United States this summer with equipment, test tools and training provided by Alcatel-Lucent.
The company will evaluate the Digital Video Broadcasting - Satellite services to Handhelds (DVB-SH) technology. The trial will take place in Dish’s laboratories in Atlanta from May to August 2008, with the goal of validating “the performance and cost-efficiency of the DVB-SH standard,” Dish said.
Last month, the satellite operator won 168 licenses in the Federal Communications Commission’s auction of 700-Megahertz analog TV spectrum. Dish paid a total of $712 million for the E block spectrum licenses covering most of the U.S.
Following the auction, industry analysts speculated that Dish would use the spectrum holdings to launch mobile TV services, pointing out that the E-block spectrum does not permit two-way communication.
However, for now, Dish isn’t saying whether it's eyeing the 700-MHz spectrum for mobile TV. “We’re not commenting beyond the release,” Dish Network manager of corporate communications Francie Bauer said.
DVB-SH, an evolution of DVB-H designed for mobile TV deployments, can be used in any frequency spectrum below 3 Gigahertz, including UHF, L-band and S-band, and in terrestrial, satellite or hybrid networks. The DVB-SH specification was published by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in March 2008.
“As is our history, Dish Network continues to explore new, cutting-edge technology for consumer applications,” Dish Network senior vice president of strategic initiatives Nolan Daines said, in a statement. “Considering the global momentum of DVB-SH, we decided that performing a critical analysis of this new open standard was the right thing to do for DISH Network. We look forward to working in tandem with Alcatel-Lucent during this testing phase.”
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