DoCoMo Launches Live Video for Mobile Phones
By Jay Wrolstad & Dan McDonough Jr.
Wireless NewsFactor
August 28, 2001
A few months into the trial of its 3G (third generation)
wireless service, NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: NTT) has tied up the
loose ends on a new platform that provides "one-to-many"
live video distribution to the 3G handsets.
The Japanese wireless carrier said its platform, which delivers
streaming media using MPEG4 technology, is the first of its
kind. It was developed with U.S.-based PacketVideo under an
agreement the two companies signed in January.
This new video platform will enable delivery of live streaming
media over the network of NTT DoCoMo's 3G mobile
communications service -- called freedom of mobile
multimedia access (FOMA).
Service for PDAs and Phones
The FOMA live-video common distribution platform lets
users receive video-streaming service in real-time without
installing streaming media software on their terminals,
DoCoMo said. The platform also employs MPEG-4 (Moving
Picture Experts Group-4) technology for its data-coding
standards, so content providers can distribute their software to
PDAs (personal digital assistants) and FOMA mobile phone terminals.
DoCoMo said it will establish the FOMA Live Streaming Delivery Trial Consortium on September 20th,
comprising 32 corporations and other professional organizations in Japan, and will develop service
applications for the joint venture platform. The consortium will conduct field trials of live-video and
archive-video streaming applications from October 2001 through February 2002.
Building on I-Mode Foundation
PacketVideo already has conducted trials of its wireless multimedia technology over Airtel Movil S.A.'s
GPRS (general packet radio service) network in Spain as a preview of Airtel's anticipated launch of 3G
wireless service in that country.
DoCoMo's 2.5G i-mode Web-access service has experienced incredible growth: It has 26 million subscribers
in Japan and is widely recognized as the forerunner of next-generation wireless service.
Spinning Wheels?
While DoCoMo and other carriers are plowing ahead to bring 3G to the people, there still are questions as to
who and what will take advantage of its key benefit -- streaming video, the same application that DoCoMo is
accommodating with its new platform.
The wireless community sees streaming media grasping different markets in different parts of the world.
Internationally, it will gain quicker acceptance in the consumer markets, while business applications likely
will take the lead in the U.S. 3G market.
DoCoMo's 3G service is based on WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access) technology. The
company said it plans to spend 1 trillion yen (US$8.19 billion) in the next three years on infrastructure for its
3G service, and it expects to turn a profit within four years of launch.
