MobileTV – Roaming still the killer app

One of the main themes of the recent 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona was MobileTV. In fact, time spent exploring the exhibition halls was likely to result in middle-aged industry executives coming down with “square eye”, the syndrome most usually associated with a teenage TV watchers.

Strictly speaking, MobileTV is not a new service. After all, MobiTV has been providing commercial services since November 2003 and is currently offering them on a variety of networks in the USA, Canada and the UK. Elsewhere, since 2005, Vodafone has been promoting its service in partnership with Sky TV and more recently BT has launched its service – Movio – and signed an agreement to deliver it, in the first instance, with Virgin Mobile in the UK.

However, it is only now that MobileTV is starting to gain real traction as 3G networks and handsets are at last becoming ubiquitous, and emerging standards such as DVB-H are being proven through a number of pilot projects.

As a mobile consumer I have enjoyed experimenting with MobileTV streamed over my service provider’s 3G network. I freely admit that before I did so I was a sceptic in regard to the much vaunted “user experience”, and found it hard to believe that MobileTV would really be watchable, in any sensible, serious or comfortable way.

But I have to admit that it is. The technology is there, and it works rather well. Watching the quintessentially English game of cricket on a mobile handset, I found the picture to be detailed and I could clearly see the ball on the small screen. Altogether it was a pleasant and smooth experience. And when it came to travelling abroad, I had the same experience when roaming and using the service on a visited 3G network.

So far so good then, but what about cost?

Well, in my case my service provider was offering a promotional period during which access to MobileTV would be free – though there would be a data charge levied whilst roaming. So I set out to try to find out the price I would be charged if I used the service overseas. The answer was hidden away in a lengthy terms and conditions document and finding out what I wanted to know was far from easy. I eventually did it by a process of elimination, by excluding those instances for which I would not be charged (For example, as a 3G data card user? No, I wasn’t one of those. Was I using an off-portal service? Err, don’t think so; and so on) Finally I came to the conclusion that (like most people) I would probably fall into the “catch-all” cost clause of around £10 per Mb. Clear, not very. Potentially expensive, yes.

Charging for data has been a topic of heated debate for some time, and I for one had long believed that there is a general consensus that most users simply do not understand tariffs relating per Kb or Mb. OK, if you are sending email attachments that you know are 1Mb in size then you will at least have some idea of what you will have to pay, but how much will that be for watching MobileTV? How many megabytes will that use?

Accordingly I set out to investigate further. I opened a streaming session on my handset, and then fiddled with various options and properties menus until, eventually, I determined that my session was running at 104 kbits per second. I then went through the arithmetic to work out how long it would take to burn 1 Mb. 104 Kbps / 8 bits in a byte = 13Kbytes per second. 1Mb at 13Kbytes per second takes approx. 76 seconds. Which means that watching MobileTV whilst roaming would cost me around £8.50 per minute! Or at least it would’ve done during that session because, as I later found out, the sessions don’t always stream at the same speed! Well that was really easy – I work in the billing industry and have a degree in mathematics, so I’m sure everyone will find it straightforward!

This is a matter of real concern. The technology works well, and if the content has value to the end user (as the cricket did for me), then people will use it – at least once. However, one of the key success factors for mobile technology has been the ubiquitous service access, and MobileTV whilst roaming will be no exception. People will be able to watch their favourite TV programmes from back home, even whilst they are away, and they like the idea. But the price is going to be a real stumbling block.

The likes of T-Mobile are touting this summer’s World Cup as the proving point of MobileTV, but there is a real danger that consumer fingers will be burnt very quickly. At the moment, MobileTV services are packaged at a flat rate per month, but roaming is a separate data charge at the prevailing per Mb rate. This is just not going to work. Unsuspecting football fans could tune in for their team’s World Cup match whilst roaming, and then find themselves with a bill for several hundreds or even thousands of pounds. That would be taking bill shock to the extreme and the outcry can easily be imagined.

It is entirely reasonable that the viewing of MobileTV whilst roaming should be charged at a premium – after all it does have considerable extra value. However, specific pricing models need to be developed and introduced quickly, based on either a price-per-minute or an agreed flat rate with each roaming partner.

In that respect, Vodafone recently introduced its “passport” service offering improved terms for making calls whilst roaming – a connection fee of 75p applies to each call, but thereafter the user pays the same rate per minute as when making calls in his or her home country (including free minute bundles when applicable). Perhaps this model could be applied to MobileTV roaming, allowing a flat rate per programme (say a football match) and monthly usage thresholds to prevent service abuse.

It is evident that widespread use of MobileTV will be very bandwidth intensive, but if steps are not taken to address very real roaming pricing issues, then, rather than be the ultimate proving point of MobileTV, the World Cup could actually see the effective demise of the service before it has really got off the ground.

Dominic Smith
Dominic.Smith@cerillion.com

Cerillion launches new interACT service portfolio

interACT is a new suite of modular consultancy and training services for Cerillion customers. With experience of more than 35 successful implementation projects worldwide, Cerillion leverages a wealth of solution expertise and industry knowledge to ensure that the interACT service portfolio provides real value to our customers.

Incorporating a wide range of specialist training courses, and key consultancy services including revenue assurance, system performance management and creative marketing campaigns, interACT provides essential skills and practical hands-on coaching to help customers get more from their Cerillion solution.

The interACT service portfolio is designed to be as flexible and interactive as possible, in terms of modular content, delivery media and cost. All training modules are available as tutor-led classes hosted on customer site or at Cerillion’s very own interACT training suite in central London; as self-paced reusable learning modules available on CD-ROM; or as online curricular courses complete with optional assessments. Customers can control what is delivered, how and when, ensuring that interACT delivers the right course to the right audience at the right time.

"Increased market pressures mean that telecom service providers are continuing to demand more from their supplier relationships" commented Neil Philpott, Delivery Director at Cerillion Technologies. "interACT provides that extra competitive edge for Cerillion customers needing to differentiate their product offerings and provide an exceptional level of service to their customers, whilst increasing their operational efficiency."

For further information about Cerillion's interACT service portfolio, please contact interACT@cerillion.com.

Revenues up 37% in another year of strong growth at Cerillion

London, UK, 2nd February 2006 – Convergent billing specialist, Cerillion Technologies, today announced its audited results for another very successful year, with revenues up 37% to $22.3m and EBITDA rising 12% to $3.5m for the financial year ending 30th September 2005.

This period has seen further progress in penetrating the Tier 2 service provider market with substantial new contracts for CRM & Billing and Interconnect solutions in Europe, and continued success in the Americas and Africa. The Cerillion Managed Service package is also gaining traction, with 3 new customers joining the service during the year.

“Combined with 46% growth in 2004, we have now doubled our turnover in 2 years” commented Louis Hall, CEO of Cerillion Technologies. “Our bundled component product strategy is proving very successful, capitalising on the trend away from pure best-of-breed systems as service providers increasingly look to acquire pre-integrated solutions with a low total cost of ownership from a single vendor.”

“Our investment in building a managed service infrastructure is also starting to pay dividends, and we anticipate further progress in this area in the year ahead. As the market shifts towards ‘everything over IP’ and a myriad of new services come online, this industry is as exciting as ever, and we look forward to another year of strong growth in 2006.”

Caudwell Communications Implements Cerillion Solution as Strategic CRM & Billing Platform

London, UK, 9th January 2006 – Convergent billing specialist, Cerillion Technologies, today announced it has completed delivery of a new CRM, Billing and Mediation solution for Caudwell Communications Ltd. Cerillion provided a turnkey delivery, implementing the CRM Plus, Revenue Manager and Mediator products from the pre-integrated Cerillion suite, and completing the migration from Caudwell’s legacy systems.

The new system delivers a cost-effective solution to support Caudwell’s Carrier Pre-Select (CPS), Broadband and other services to customers across the UK. The system also supports BT’s Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) provisioning which is critical for CPS providers needing to provide a complete telephony solution to their customers.

“Caudwell Communications has grown rapidly to become a market leader in the UK fixed line telecommunications market”, commented Damone Quigley, IT Director, Caudwell Communications. “The Cerillion solution allows us to launch new services to market quickly, whilst keeping our operational costs to a minimum. Pre-integration of CRM and billing functions will provide us with many efficiency improvements in our back-office operations, and enables us to manage the complete customer lifecycle and deliver a consistently high quality of service.”

“We are delighted to have worked with Caudwell on this important project”, commented Louis Hall, CEO of Cerillion Technologies. “The Caudwell Group has consistently proven its ability to penetrate the UK market, and we are very excited about their accelerating growth in the fixed line and broadband markets.”

About Caudwell Communications
Caudwell Communications provides Carrier Pre-Select, Line Rental, Broadband, and other services nationwide to both residential and business customers. Residential fixed wire services are provided under the leading “Homecall” brand. Caudwell is one of the largest privately owned groups in the UK, with a turnover in excess of £2 billion and employing over 8,500 people globally. Recognised brands such as Phones 4U, 20:20 Logistics and Dextra/4u airtime are leading businesses within the group.