Mobiles Take A Whole New Direction

Sun Herald

Sunday April 3, 2005

Daniel Dasey

IT sounds like science fiction but within five years many Australians will be carrying mini-televisions in their pockets.

New technology being rolled out by the major phone companies over the coming months will allow the average consumer to watch soap operas and comedy shows and catch live news broadcasts and sporting events on their handsets.

Telstra, Optus and Vodafone have all announced plans to introduce third generation (3G) mobile services by the end of 2005, with benefits including video calling, access to the internet and the ability to display programs.

With older-style handsets expected to be redundant by 2010, television stations and production companies are rushing to fill the need for mobile phone content.

But mobile television will come at a cost, with consumers likely to pay from $5 a month for access to video clips to $1.50 a week for soap operas.

"I think it's going to be big," said Shane Wood, head of cross platform development for the Seven Network.

"There's a whole new generation coming through and the way they live their life is different to previous generations. They are growing up with a telephone which they can use to entertain themselves and obtain information."

Australia had its first taste of 3G technology in 2003 when mobile company 3 launched its network, allowing for video calls and moving-picture news via handsets.

The remaining telephone companies held back, however, and have announced launch dates for the second half of this year.

Optus already offers live streaming of Sydney ABC and SBS television signals via its 2.5G service. It also provides sports, entertainment and finance updates and movie trailers. Under 3G, the quality of transmissions will improve.

Telstra is looking at providing coverage of sports it sponsors, such as rugby league and rugby union.

Vodafone will provide mobile TV content including comedies, video clips, dramas and movie trailers.

"3G will be a revolution in terms of mobile," a Telstra spokesman said.

"Mobiles are moving away from being voice devices to be devices that offer us a whole range of communication tools, be it data or video or games."

Paul Budde, a telecommunications analyst, said the switch to 3G was about telephone networks becoming more efficient. He said 3G was 30 per cent more cost-effective than existing networks and expects the 2G phones would be phased out by 2010.

THE MOBILE GENERATION

Third-generation phones offer several advantages over their predecessors.

VIDEO CALLING

Phone users can see the person they are having a coversation with, provided both have 3G phones.

VIDEO MESSAGING

Consumers can record and send a voice and moving-picture message.

MUSIC

Full-track music downloads : Complete songs can be purchased, downloaded and stored in the phone.

MOBILE TELEVISION

Phone users can watch specially prepared news, comedy and drama programs.

* Premium games

* Sophisticated ring tones

© 2005 Sun Herald

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