Deliver Your News to the World

Alcatel-Lucent, 3 Italia and RAI join forces for the first DVB-SH mobile TV trial in Italy


WEBWIRE

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU), the mobile operator 3 Italia and Italian public broadcaster RAI are launching the first trial of Mobile TV based on the DVB-SH standard in Italy.

DVB-SH (Digital Video Broadcasting – Satellite services to Handhelds) is an evolution of DVB-H, which is providing higher spectrum efficiency and allows integration with hybrid satellite/terrestrial networks. The trial, based on Alcatel-Lucent’s Unlimited Mobile TV solution, uses for the first time in the world a multi-layer DVB-SH terrestrial network blending low-power transmitters from a mobile operator and medium-power transmitters from a broadcaster.

The trial will take place in Torino and it will be overseen by RAI Technological Strategies Dept., Raiway SpA and RAI Research and Technology Innovation Centre, providing their three-year-old experience in mobile-TV field tests. Cellular sites provided by 3 Italia will allow the indoor coverage of Torino’s downtown, while broadcast towers provided by RAI and Raiway will allow outdoor and vehicular coverage of the entire town of Torino.

Alcatel-Lucent will provide the DVB-SH equipment, the network planning, the network integration and the technical support required for the good execution of the trial. Alcatel-Lucent’s DVB-SH low-power repeaters will be co-localized with the live UMTS sites of 3 Italia and connected to the UMTS antennas.

The first phase of this trial, taking place from December 2007 to March 2008, will consist in a technology trial to validate the capability of DVB-SH to make available a large number of high-quality mobile TV channels, in various usage conditions. The several innovative technical characteristics of the DVB-SH will be evaluated during this trial, which in this first phase of the trial will be only terrestrial.

In a second phase of this trial, the broadcast signal from a satellite will be emulated by a transmitter located in a high-altitude helicopter; in order to study a real business situation, a sample panel of customers will be provided with commercial DVB-SH handsets. In a longer term perspective, tests with satellites in operation will be carried out in cooperation with a major satellite operator.

It is expected that this trial will allow demonstrating the improved reception quality made possible by the DVB-SH standard, thanks in particular to improved radio performances for mobile reception (such as the time interleaver and as the reception antenna diversity) related to the use of the S-Band, in particular for indoor and particularly critical outdoor reception environments.

Claudio Cappon, General Director of RAI, declared: “RAI, as part of its public service remit, is interested to deliver to the Italian audience high-quality mobile TV contents, based on various technologies. In this perspective, it is our responsibility to permanently investigate new technologies, such as DVB-SH, in order to optimize the cost-efficiency of our broadcast services distribution to a constantly growing audience.”

Olivier Coste, Chairman of Alcatel-Lucent’s mobile broadcast activities declared: “For the first time in the industry, a broadcast mobile TV trial will showcase a network capable to satisfy the service needs of both mobile operators and broadcasters, spanning indoor, outdoor and in-car mobile TV usage. We are particularly excited by this unique partnership with 3 Italia and RAI that will allow us to demonstrate the advantages for the Italian audience of Alcatel-Lucent’s Unlimited Mobile TV solution based on the DVB-SH standard.”

The S-Band spectrum (2.17-2.20 GHz) is available throughout Europe and can be used to deploy across the whole continent mobile satellite services such as Mobile TV. On February 14, 2007, the European Commission issued a Decision on the harmonized use of this spectrum at the EU level, and on August 22, 2007, the Commission adopted a proposal to select systems for mobile satellite services. If adopted by the European Parliament and the EU Council, this new selection mechanism will allow, from 2009, the deployment of innovative services such as Mobile TV based on DVB-SH.



About 3 Italia
3 Italia, the Hutchison Whampoa Group’s Mobile Media Company, won a UMTS license in Italy in 2000, commenced offering its services in 2003 and is now the leader of the UMTS market in Italy - with over 7.7 million customers - thanks to a wide offer of multimedia, video communication and internet services, in addition to entertainment, music, information, cinema, sport and Mobile TV. In June 2006 3 Italia launched the first Digital Mobile TV based on DVB-H technology in the world, establishing itself on the cutting-edge of third generation mobile technology (3G) development by launching in April 2006 the first HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) commercial offer in Italy and implementing HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) to access broadband in mobility with data transmission speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps in download and 1.4 Mbps in upload. In June 2007, 3 Italia launched X-Series, the first all-inclusive offer that extends several of the core applications and features of the broadband Internet to third generation mobile handsets: Instant Messaging, e-mail, browsing, Web searching, shopping, VoIP and photosharing directly on the videophone. For more information visit www.tre.it, www.la3tv.it or external linkwww.3xseries.it.



3 Italia Press Contact

Gian Marco Litrico


Tel: + 39 02 4458 1


gianmarco.litrico@h3g.it



About RAI
RAI is the Italian public broadcaster. RAI operates TV (analogue and DTT), radio and Internet. RAI’s Technological Strategies Dept is in charge of addressing strategic technological issues for RAI. RAI Centre for Research and Technology Innovation is in charge for research and development and participate to international working groups for the standardization of new digital platforms (DVB-S2, DVB-T2, DVB-H, SH and NGH), in strict relationship with other research centers (BBC, IRT -ARD, SSR, ZDF- and NHK). RAI Centre for Research and Technology Innovation has followed Mobile TV over DVB-H from the beginning in 2004, participating to National and European Projects targeted to this technology and contributing to standardization. The ongoing trial includes live DVB-H transmissions on the area of Torino. Currently active demonstrators concern thematic services automatic creation, focused on Regional News and User Generated Contents, vehicular DVB-H applications and interaction on Wi-Fi and UMTS networks. For more information visit external linkwww.rai.it .

About Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that enable service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. As a leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications, and services, Alcatel-Lucent offers the end-to-end solutions that enable compelling communications services for people at home, at work and on the move. With operations in more than 130 countries, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The company has the most experienced global services team in the industry, and one of the largest research, technology and innovation organizations in the telecommunications industry. Alcatel-Lucent achieved adjusted proforma revenues of Euro 18.3 billion in 2006 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. [All figures exclude impact of activities transferred to Thales]. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

Contact the Alcatel-Lucent Press Office: press@alcatel-lucent.com



WebWireID55201





This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.

News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.