Mobile Entertainment

The market is more than ready for mobile video. Today there are 70 3G network operators in Western Europe, with an estimated 45 million subscribers. Numerous video-enabled media players are now available, notably Apple’s Video iPod and Sony’s PSP, while iTunes, Google Video andfothers are changing the landscape of video content delivery. ABI Research says mobile video services will reach 167 million customers in Western Europe and gross $10 billion, by 2012. 3G phones at every price point fill the shelves of any mobile phone retailer.

But to understand the potential of mobile video, the format should be seen less as traditional TV on a mobile screen, than another form of communication. Mobile video is not about downloading media to a handset, or passively watching a broadcast TV stream on one. Rather, it involves a variety of applications delivered in short bursts, with a significant proportion of user generated content.

It’s not hard to imagine the YouTube generation – used to collaborative content creation and sharing – switching seamlessly to mobile. Participation TV is another concept that has made a successful debut, which overlays the programming of traditional TV with the interactivity of mobile video. One example is BBC’s Your shout! initiative, where viewers video call their comments to programmes focused on football for example. These video messages can then be aired on shows.
Mobile video marketing is a golden opportunity for advertisers, and many have been quick to take it up. A campaign for Sugababes allowed fans to interact directly with band members via video calls and was hugely successful. Meanwhile an operator in the UK reported the success of a mobile service offering snippets of TV shows “bracketed” by ads.

Another applications driving 3G take-up is surveillance – whether in the form of security monitoring webcams, or keeping track of the elderly or young children. It’s only a matter of time before mobile video surveillance is launched on today’s bandwidth and networks.
So how can the ecosystem help stimulate this market?

Create the right environment

Market players support open standards that would permit the ecosystem of content and marketers to expand “organically”. Copyright issues should be addressed from the point of view of the end consumer and not the content owners. Perhaps most importantly, service providers must have flexible practices that allow them to introduce new services quickly, retire services that aren’t working, and form fluid working agreements with strategic partners.

Get the economics right

To encourage widespread adoption of video, it is important make services as accessible as possible, perhaps including them as part of a basic customer package – as opposed to labelling them “premium services”

Create the demand

Operators must invest in subscriber awareness and adoption programmes, with attractive incentives and contests, including cross media promotions. A flexible range of tariffs and loyalty programmes would stimulate adoption and help reduce churn.

Deliver personalised, media-rich experiences

Until the emergence of a single killer app, operators should start with a cocktail of services targeted to certain user groups. The development of a community of participants could ultimately lead to user-generated content.

Intelligently partner to enhance time-to-market

Consortiums of partners pooling knowledge on an open architecture will greatly foster the efficient development of and transition to next-generation services.
 
HP’s success in markets such as digital photography and mobile can help service providers capitalise on the market opportunity presented by mobile video. Its  wide network of partners and state-of-art platforms (including HP OpenCall Video Solutions Portfolio and HP OpenCall Video Blog) can help commercial mobile video services go to market faster at lower cost and risk.