High-speed mobile TV is here, from Tata Tele

Tata Teleservices has become the first service provider to offer mobile TV on high speed broadband wireless by launching Photon TV, which allows users to access channels on desktops and laptops.

The service initially offers 40 channels  via a Photon Plus data card (which offers maximum speeds of 3.1 mbps, 20 times faster than what is available on a mobile) covering news, sports, entertainment, children's entertainment and some key regional offerings. In the next three months, the plan is to ramp up the number of channels on offer to 90.

Photon TV will allow Tata Photon Plus post-paid users to view a near-live TV feed -- there's an eight- to 10-second delay. Current Photon Plus subscribers will have to download an application to access the service.

The company has tied with Apalya Technologies, which aggregates the content and provides it to TTSL. The technology company has agreements with broadcasters on a revenue-share basis.

Some mobile service companies like Reliance Communications (which offers 34 channels on the CDMA platforms) also offer mobile TV with a delay of 30 seconds but the quality is limited by the fact that they are on a 2G platform, where speeds are limited to a maximum of 145 kbps.

The service, however, is not cheap (see table). The unlimited offer, for instance, leaves little capacity  for data usage for normal internet access. In comparison, a new direct-to-home (DTH) connection at Rs 1,500 plus a six month package of channels free is still cheaper. DTH also allows users to pay only about Rs 250 a month for accessing over 140 channels -- though it does not have the advantage of mobility.

TTSL so far has half a million users of Photon broadband cards.

"We have 40 per cent market share in the data card segment and hope to encash our existing customers to use TV. Also it will enhance data usage," says chief marketing officer Lloyd Mathias.

Competitors  have varying opinions on the service. Says Jawahar Goel, managing director of Dish TV, "There is a market for such a service in offices where people do not have access to TV. Only news, business and cricket channels will work in this format, however. Broadcasters, of course, will be happy because they get additional revenue."

TTSL direct competitors say the offer is not attractive. "Users have to pay a huge bill for using data since the content is data-heavy. We don't think there will be enough customers for such a service," says a senior executive of a leading telecom company that also sells broadband wireless data cards.

Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications, for instance, is tying up with hungama.com to offer music videos on the broadband card that it sells for only Rs 100 a month. Sources say consumers using their data card would be able to access to over 50,000 titles at a nominal price.

Meanwhile, broadcasters offering content on the TTSL platform say there are limits to what they can give. Says a senior ESPN executive: "Effectively it can be a tournament or a match but the not the entire channel as available on cable or DTH."