Mobile Streaming Video Grows 58% Last Quarter

Worldwide mobile data bandwidth usage has grown 30 percent during the second quarter of 2009, says Allot Communications. Asia leads the growth with 36 percent; Europe posted 28 percent growth and the Americas 25 percent.

Heavy data users do not distinguish between their fixed and their mobile networks and seem to expect the same service from the Internet, irrespective of their access method, the report says.

That is going to be a problem, for the same reason a small percentage of heavy users create performance issues for all other users, one might reasonably conclude. The other issue is that the fastest-growing traffic type is streaming video, which grew 58 percent during the quarter. Since streaming video requires 100 times the bandwidth of a voice call, you can imagine what the problem is.

Go to Gary’s blog @ http://ipcarrier.blogspot.com

Global and Local Market Trends

When people talk about the latest market trends with regards to multimedia, they often speak in terms of global or macro usage.  One of the things that we have seen is that while there are broad changes and usage patterns for video services that are driven by devices, networks and applications, most of the real news comes from individual markets.

From a global perspective, we can look at the increasing number of 3G subscribers and especially relative to the total number of mobile customers.  The percentage of 3G subscribers is almost reaching 20% which is the point where people start to say there is a tipping point.  New smartphones from iPhone to G1 to RIM’s Blackberry are showing people how easy it is to access quality video on a daily basis.  Prices for these services are generally falling and all-you-can-eat pricing plans are making multimedia more accessible to the masses.  New codecs such as H.264 are providing a near-HD experience which helps to promote increased usage.

Then we have the local markets driving local services.  It’s easy to point to India and China where more than a billion people will eventually have access to next-generation mobile broadband, and their networks are being built out now – but these services are yet to be launched – though there are high hopes.  We see very specific applications tailored to a country in markets such as the Middle East and in South East Asia.  There are also cultural norms that have be followed – including the allowance of adult services in Western and Northern Europe (UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria for example), which would obviously not be permissible in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or Bahrain.

What do you think and see?  Which markets are truly leading this revolution?  How much do global trends apply to local markets?

Mobile Phone use in Africa

Mobile Phones, Facebook, & MXIT in Swaziland, Africa (Interview w/Gcina of YouthAssets)

Swaziland, Africa, July 2009: During a quick break in between sessions at BarCampSwaziland, Gcina of YouthAssets explains that mobile phones are more widely used in Swaziland, Africa than computers, as a source of information and connecting with friends. Gcina also tells us about MXIT, the dominant mobile social networking platform in southern africa, with over 9 million users and growing. Gcina uses a Nokia 6300 to catch up with friends on Facebook.

Emergency Video Calls Concept (Google Project 10^100)

Emergency Video Calls Concept (Google Project 10^100)

There are millions of camera phones and video phones in use around the world right now. This relatively simple upgrade would allow 9-1-1 call centres to receive and record 9-1-1 calls, relay them to emergency services, tag video evidence, search through previously recorded videos, and stream them to the responding police, ambulance and fire crews.

Video Conviction

I’m blasted daily with mega-numbers for the kazillion apps downloaded and new, improved ways to deliver TV to every screen on the planet.  But, I want to focus on a niche, Emergency Video.

Grab your mobile, close your eyes and tune in to that ‘feel-good, give-back’ little voice in your head.  It’s coming from your 3G video-enabled handset.  Alas, it’s faint, but there.  Your handset longs to be a hero if only for a day.   That shiny red rectangle would much rather be risking it all in the grimy hands of an emergency first-responder than buried in your purse or hanging off a bulging size 44 belt.  It dreams of being thrust right up front, streaming life-saving footage (do we still use that term) to medics and police.  So small with such a noble cause.

Yes, I’m shouting out that video has purpose!   Humanitarian purpose when pointed at the right thing… and backed up by infrastructure that puts technology to ‘good’ use.   None of that silly UGC for me and my handset.

There are projects under discussion to bring real-time mobile video into 999/911 response centers. Put video in 911 systems and E-911 operators can service a much wider array of people in distress.  The injured, deaf mutes or victims in unfolding criminal events can’t always afford or manage to utter a peep but they may can use video!

Look what’s going on over at Google’s Project 10¹⁰⁰ with Emergency Video ( http://sites.google.com/site/emergencyvideo/).   The idea is to get video in emergency response centers.  (Google’s project 10100 home: http://www.project10tothe100.com )

Video medicine is growing, putting mobile video in the paramedics hands giving the emergency room a better, faster, preview of what’s on the scene.

Emergency Video is coming.  It all depends on getting a critical mass of mobile video handsets out there.  Then government will step up and plug in.

Government Value Added Services application?  Sure, they already do it in law enforcement and surveillance but Emergency Video catches people at their most sensitive and sometimes final moments hanging between life and death.  That could spark a little debate over privacy.   But, it’s going to be a mute point when it serves humankind – and precedent is set since its already in law enforcement vehicles.  Or how about rights for the disabled?  Will human rights groups pick up the charge for putting video in the emergency centers like they did for equal access?

While Emergency Video can never be called a KILLER app (intentional cheap shot)  in this industry, it can catch one.  That’s a ‘video conviction’.

Mobile Phones – 20 Year of Evolution

Its interesting to see how much mobile phones have changed and I learned some fun facts!

Did you know the Motorola StarTAC was the first clam shell design and inspired by the Communicator from Star Trek?

Network Video Optimization 101

There is a generally accepted term in mobile networks called optimization.  In this sense it usually involves tweaking the radio base station antennas in terms of down tilt, messing around with the power settings and figuring out the best combination of cell-sites that provide the best results for handover and handoff.  This and dozens of other techniques make it possible for the best sound quality and power and to make sure calls are not dropped when you’re driving at 70 mph down the highway.

For delivering video services over 3G and LTE networks a number of other considerations come into view.  Besides having to deliver high quality multimedia to a variety of devices over radio frequencies, there is the need to optimize the video to minimize the amount of bandwidth that these services take up.  This is especially needed as more and more people use video (driven by iPhone for example) and use up all the available bandwidth in a given cell site, requiring operators to deploy more radio base stations and transceivers, all of which are incredibly expensive.

Using services such as Video Network Optimization, operators can reduce the rate from say 140kbps to 110kbps while insuring no decline in perceivable video quality to end customers.  The technology behind this takes a lot of experience from companies that are experts in mobile video but can deliver great cost savings which are going to be needed as video explodes in the mobile network.

What do you think are the biggest challenges in optimizing mobile video networks?  How will the coming rollouts of LTE (as with Verizon in the US) make the need for this even more important?  What are the key technologies and techniques that can be utilized?

iPhone video

As part of a new Pan European Project called EuroCreator.com which encourages teenagers and children of all ages to upload media content on to a safe video sharing platform. 15 Year old Ben from a local Community Digital Media Centre in Dublin Ireland, has achieved an amazing feat in one morning.

The new iPhone 3GS was launched in Ireland today and as a result Ben decided to put all the hype to the test. After getting his hands on one of the first units to be sold this morning, Ben decided to use the new features of the iphone which allows you to record live video, and turned the phone on himself.

Within 40 mins he had created a news report about the hype around the new launch of the iphone. The report was entirely filmed by himself and on the actual iPhone while on location at his local mobile phone store. Once the report was finished Ben emailed the report on his phone back to his Communty Digital Media Centre who uploaded it onto eurocreator on his behalf which broadcasted his piece to students all across Europe.

Growth of Mobile Services in India

Since I joined Dilithium Networks in June, in the exciting field of mobile video, I have had a chance to reminisce about my 15 year on and off association with the telecommunication industry in India from a vendor perspective.

Going by the saying “numbers never lie”, the growth in the mobile space has been mind-boggling. By 2010, India is expected to have 500 million mobile subscribers, growing at the rate of 10 million new subscribers a month. 40% of these subscribers are expected to use their mobile phone for something more than just making a basic call. The cost of making a mobile call is the lowest in the world and mobile devices are expected to be the primary device for internet access for a big section of the population.

The auction of 3G licenses in the 2H,09 is expected to provide a major boost to mobile video and related value added services (VAS) that are unique to the socio-economic set-up for the cost conscious Indian consumer.

One of the big challenges facing India is the inadequate power/electricity production, where rural areas receive less than 8 hours of powers a day on average. Since television cannot be turned on for most of the day, mobile devices are expected to provide back-up entertainment as well – from watching cricket snippets and getting the latest scores in a cricket crazed nation, to watching news or getting the latest on the ongoing soap operas.

Mobile video and VAS are also expected to play a major role in the small business and services sectors. Some possibilities include: construction contractors making a video call to their sub-contractors and monitoring progress from their phones rather than visiting each of their sites everyday; plumbers rather than visiting multiple shops for parts can make video call to check out the available choices; farmers can call experts and show them field conditions and get advice without traveling; explaining medical conditions to experts in the cities… the possibilities are endless.

The way to I think about it is that the pipes for mobile infrastructure are ready. The next step for the service providers is to enable video and VAS that are relevant in the context of India’s socio-economic set up. The mobile revolution is just beginning in India……..tighten your seat belts and get ready for the ride.