Vodafone and O2 to offer tv channels over 3G

JimmySmith

On Newstalk earlier today.

Vodafone and O2 will be offering Live TV over their 3G phones. Channel packages start at €1.99 a week. Sounds like they have taken on 3 in the 3G world.

I wonder what will 3 do in response to Vodafone and O2 announcing that they will be showing TV channels like Sky News, Sky 1 and national geographic over 3G. This new service kind of puts 3's walled garden in the shade. After the world cup there wont really be too much on offer in 3's walled garden. There are only so many people who will watch yesterdays 6 o'clock news videos on their phone. If they updated the news as it was shown on tv that would at least be new news rather than yesterdays.

byrnefm

There's a short article about it at:

http://www.electricnews.ie/frontpage/news-9701049.html

Jam Man

Where does it say O2 are doing it?

1huge1

JimmySmith wrote:

On Newstalk earlier today.

Vodafone and O2 will be offering Live TV over their 3G phones. Channel packages start at €1.99 a week. Sounds like they have taken on 3 in the 3G world.

I wonder what will 3 do in response to Vodafone and O2 announcing that they will be showing TV channels like Sky News, Sky 1 and national geographic over 3G. This new service kind of puts 3's walled garden in the shade. After the world cup there wont really be too much on offer in 3's walled garden. There are only so many people who will watch yesterdays 6 o'clock news videos on their phone. If they updated the news as it was shown on tv that would at least be new news rather than yesterdays.

why are you being so aggressive against 3 lol
anyway 3 are usually always ahead of the game its just the always keep things very quiet

Dellas

Yeah I agree will 1huge1 , and what has the walled garden got to do with TV channels??? Also VF UK have been showing Skynews,History Channel,National Geographic and loads more for a while now and it hasnt really taken off. Maybe if your on a train or bus it might be good and it will proberbly keep buffering from my experience. I used the VF UK one when it first came out but I wasnt that impressed with it .

If you go to www.three.co.uk and then www.vodafone.co.uk see who offers what , I have to say Three are the leaders in 3G and proberbly will be. I just wish they would get their roaming charges down and the roaming agreements sorted out thats my only complaint at the moment.

flodis79

Will this work with Vodafone prepaid 3g sim cards? How much is a prepaid Voda IE 3G sim anyway?

Dellas

flodis79 wrote:

Will this work with Vodafone prepaid 3g sim cards? How much is a prepaid Voda IE 3G sim anyway?

Yes it will work if its the same as the UK which im sure it is . In the UK on VF you pay so much a month via top up vouchers for the TV package you want. If you have a VF SIM card you wont need to buy a 3g one it will work.

flodis79

Dellas wrote:

Yes it will work if its the same as the UK which im sure it is . In the UK on VF you pay so much a month via top up vouchers for the TV package you want. If you have a VF SIM card you wont need to buy a 3g one it will work.

And when will the mobile tv start over here? No info on their web site yet..

Cabaal

Nothing stopping Three offering services like they have in the UK - http://www.three.co.uk/planetthree/detail.omp?cid=1139512467560

Whatever happens I'm bettoing they'll have a better offering then Vodafone or O2, in fairness Vodafone and O2 still charge crazy amounts for data for things like e-mails...compared to Three.

Along with that Three are set to offer MSN Messenger on their handsets as per a deal with MS earlier in the year (http://www.three.ie/ireland/icompany/mediaview.omp?cid=1142503099074) and their also working on Skype on their handsets http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/Skype_running_on_Nokia_66880_S60_Handset.php

tbh both of these services will be alot more popular to their target market then TV shows ever will be

cgarvey

Dellas wrote:

Maybe if your on a train or bus it might be good and it will proberbly keep buffering from my experience. I used the VF UK one when it first came out but I wasnt that impressed with it .

I've only seen a quick demo of the VF UK service. Standing stationary ~15 feet from a mast, it was completely unwatchable: breaking up, long (5sec+) pauses, etc.

If the service was actually usable and of decent quality, then it'd be a good passtime for thos commuting to work, etc. It's like all new services though, seeing is believing.

.cg

Doctor DooM

O2 soft launch their 3g services, with no announcements, so you rarely hear what they have to offer. They've been testing various television services in the UK but if memory serves their actualy going with a new technology the name of which escapes me which will actually not use the same bandwidth as 3g/ voice calls.

Ireland has proven to be a tough market to crack 3g wise, no matter what the pr says. We as a race are just not that interested

Dellas

cgarvey wrote:

I've only seen a quick demo of the VF UK service. Standing stationary ~15 feet from a mast, it was completely unwatchable: breaking up, long (5sec+) pauses, etc.

If the service was actually usable and of decent quality, then it'd be a good passtime for thos commuting to work, etc. It's like all new services though, seeing is believing.

.cg

Yeah even SkyNews at the moment is dodgy and where I work there is a VF call center next to my building and a huge 3G mast and it still breaks up 50% of the time !!!!

I have to say they would need to iron out the coverage/connection problems.

Im not sure when they will roll it out here as Im not in the industry I just pick things up from mates and websites etc....

I have to say 3 have more decent content , in the UK they have good comedy clips etc..

flywheel

SDooM wrote:

a new technology the name of which escapes me

think you may be referring to Digital Video Broadcasting: DVB-H (on trial in various territories at the moment)

you can get a pretty decent quality stream, Nokia were demoing it when I had a chance to play with the N92:


full availability is all dependent on the infrastructure being put in place, and the broadcasting licences being sorted out... and availablity of devices to support playback...

1huge1

that is one of the ugliest phones ive ever seen
anyway as for 3G not taking of in ireland well its going to take over anyway because most of the new phones coming out are 3G and most ppl buying a new phone will be buying a 3G phone

Doctor DooM

True but the general populace don't understand what 3g is, what it means. They think either 3g means a video calling phone or just a "good" phone. Vodas early marketing messed up the public perception. And its not like everyone uses GPRS now and its on virtually every handset out there.

Dellas

SDooM wrote:

True but the general populace don't understand what 3g is, what it means. They think either 3g means a video calling phone or just a "good" phone. Vodas early marketing messed up the public perception. And its not like everyone uses GPRS now and its on virtually every handset out there.

I think its an Irish thing to be honest , If you got to Germany or the UK and asked 100 people in a street what is 3G or UMTS as they call it in Germany and Holland then about 80% would know. Here only about 40% would know. Some of my mates only know about it because I have told them what it is and girls especially dont care all they want is a simple easy to use phone !!!!

1huge1

basically i just say it as broadband for mobiles which mean it can do much more stuff never bother to go into it
most people think its just video calling

MayoExplosion

Most idiots I know think 3G is actually another name for Vodafone!

(They also believe that Orange is actually another name for Meteor :rolleyes:)

1huge1

got this from the irish times
SKYS THE LIMIT FOR 3

'Vodafone may soon be followed into the television-over-mobile market by 3 ireland, which is believed to be netogiating with a number of stations, including RTE and SKY, to introduce its own 3G tv-streaming service within a year.
Vodafone and SKY announced the launch if irelands 1st mobile streaming package last week, giving the mobile operator's 237,000 3G customers access to 18 channels including Sky One, National Geographic, Discovery and the Bioghraphy channels via their mobile handsets.
The service which comprises four packages, kicks off on thursday and is free until september when it will be availble for €1.99 a month.
3 is thought to have conducted trials for a similr service in Ireland.The company already offers the service in a number of other European markets, and 3 Itilia went as far as to shell out €200m to buy its own television station for 3G TV regional broadcaster Canale 7'

hope your greatful because i had to write that all myself

byrnefm

Jam Man wrote:

Where does it say O2 are doing it?

Can't remember where I read it but O2 are doing it in September.

MayoExplosion

Apparently we aren't too keen on paying for it...

http://www.electricnews.net/news.html?code=9702247

Genghis

Of course, you need a TV licence to watch these TV channels on your mobile. Watch out, the inspector's about.

1huge1

Genghis wrote:

Of course, you need a TV licence to watch these TV channels on your mobile. Watch out, the inspector's about.

well they havent come after people who watch tv over the internet
im sure they'd try it though

Sponge Bob

1huge1 wrote:

well they havent come after people who watch tv over the internet

They will not have to , 3 , Voda and O2 will send them your name and address details . No legislative change required in Ireland .

Make sure your bill is sent to an address with a TV licence like yer mammys

1huge1

Sponge Bob wrote:

They will not have to , 3 , Voda and O2 will send them your name and address details . No legislative change required in Ireland .

Make sure your bill is sent to an address with a TV licence like yer mammys

ya it is but i still doubt they would actually look into this
can't imagine someone coming to the door over watching tv on your mobile

constitutionus

1huge1 wrote:

ya it is but i still doubt they would actually look into this
can't imagine someone coming to the door over watching tv on your mobile

besides, then you need two! one for your telly and one for your mobile

Damomanye

Anyone try it out today..looks pretty good. The stream quality is decent.You get a weeks free trial and then you pay after that. I didnt catch the price though.

The streams run at about 104 kbps

flodis79

Damomanye wrote:

Anyone try it out today..looks pretty good. The stream quality is decent.You get a weeks free trial and then you pay after that. I didnt catch the price though.

The streams run at about 104 kbps

It's free until September, then it's €4.99 per week. If you sign up after September, you get one free week trial.

EIN

tried it last night and today, quality is good, and the sky news is actually live! i compared it to watching sky news on my tv and the mobile was about 5 seconds behind...


so it looks good,, 3's 3g offerings pale in significance to this, having been a 3 customer, i found the rte news videos on 3 a bit stale. i moved back to voda!


vodas 3g offerings in general are vastly superior, ie, isp internet access on
3g, sky tv, etc etc... no walled garden..cheaper roaming, webtexts, manage your account on line.


voda are more expensive, but sure the ole sayin goes....u get wot u pay for ( or should do haha)

Damomanye

flodis79 wrote:

It's free until September, then it's €4.99 per week. If you sign up after September, you get one free week trial.

when i subscribed today it said i was getting 1 week free and then it would charge me. hmm? or maybe thats some generic text that they havn't changed

The Corinthian

1huge1 wrote:

well they havent come after people who watch tv over the internet
im sure they'd try it though

They’ve actually tried to go after PC manufacturers / retailers for PC’s that come with TV tuners. As for TV over IP, I don’t think current legislation strictly covers it. If so this would thus mean that TV over 3G would also not be covered - although I’ve no doubt an attempt will be made nonetheless.

TBH, the TV licence is an anachronistic throwback of when radio was state run and without any advertising revenue. That we now have several new TV channels that do not require TV licence money is probably indicative of how it simply serves to fund a grossly over unionised and incompetent organisation - not to mention that the licence fee itself is collected by another grossly over unionised and incompetent organisation.

My guess is that the operators will legally challenge or otherwise delay any attempts by the government to impose TV licences on mobile TV as any such charge would severely limit the growth of the service. As a result a compromise may be eventually found or it may prove a watershed for the frankly outdated and irrelevant charging for TV in this country.