UK operators Orange, O2 and Vodafone trial Integrated Mobile Broadcast(IMB) technology

UK operators Orange, O2 and Vodafone are to trial Integrated Mobile Broadcast (IMB) technology in a move that could see the system used for commercial mobile TV services. The pilot will run for three months from October in central London and Slough and will assess how mobile broadcast services can be deployed using shared network infrastructure.

Integrated Mobile Broadcast (IMB) is a 3GPP standard that claims to enable “spectrally-efficient delivery of broadcast services” in both FDD and TDD spectrum bands. As well as offering broadcast services to customers, it can also link with traditional unicast or on-demand services delivered over 3G networks.

The three UK operators (Orange, O2 and Vodafone) will use TDD (unpaired) spectrum. The idea is that the technology will allow the operators to offer mobile TV without clogging up their networks, which are increasingly being used by smartphone users to access the Web and send emails.

Ericsson and Streamezzo are also involved in the UK trials. Widespread deployment of IMB technology could lead to renewed interest in mobile TV services, which have so far failed to be a commercial success.