Look takes big step towards commercial availability of its mobile TV network

One piece of the mobile broadcast network puzzle has fallen into place for struggling wireless cable operator Look Communications Inc. The firm announced on April 20 that its mobile multimedia network, or M3, is live in Milton ON. To demonstrate the network, which uses digital video broadcast-handheld (DVB-H) technology, the company has installed four TV screens in a van that are broadcasting five different programs. Gerald McGoey, vice-chair and CEO of Look, says the quality of the programming is exactly the same as what is delivered to the home, only viewers can now watch programs in a vehicle traveling at 130 km/hr. "We’re saying that if we can get it to a moving van, we can surely get it to a moving hand," McGoey tells Report on Wireless. "We decided to show the extreme of the technology and what’s available….Going to the handsets is going to be quite easy." Part of the problem for Look and its majority owner Unique Broadband Systems Inc. is a lack of mobile devices operating in the 2.5 GHz band. Mobile broadcast services in Europe and the United States operate in a different frequency band and the device makers are catering to this frequency where initial demand is in North America. This doesn’t deter McGoey, though. "We think it’s a matter of time before we can get the right player to manufacture them for us in the 2.5 GHz frequency," he adds. Samsung is already producing mobile devices to offer this type of functionality in the 2.5 GHz band, but McGoey maintains it comes down to a company placing a large enough order. Handsets are available, but the manufacturers want to be receiving orders for millions of devices, not tens of thousands, he says. Sprint Nextel is the player to watch in North America when it comes to device availability, McGoey adds, because that organization owns what could be considered the equivalent of Inukshuk Internet Inc. and Look – bandwidth that can be used for both broadcast and data functionality. There are also handsets available to offer this type of TV-quality mobile broadcast, but they operate in the 1.675 GHz band. This is the frequency that Crown Castle subsidiary Modeo LLC, an American company focused on delivering mobile TV using DVB-H technology, is using in the United States. The company is currently offering the mobile broadcast consisting of six to eight channels in the New York and Pittsburgh markets. Despite a lack of handsets capable of operating in the 2.5 GHz band, the key to Look’s future lies in its ability to secure additional financing. McGoey tells RoW the company is talking to a number of players in the telecom, cable and box spaces. Without singling out any particular player of preference, he mentions Nortel Networks Corp., Samsung, Harris Corp., and Alcatel. "We’re having conversations with them as well in Canada and the United States," McGoey says. Mobile data, voice on holdWhile news of Look’s launch of its mobile broadcast service is pretty significant, the company has decided to delay implementation of mobile voice and data services, following an Industry Canada ruling. The department ruled at the end of March that if Look decides to offer a mobile broadband or voice service, the company will have to return one-third of its spectrum, which would be auctioned to interested parties. McGoey wouldn’t directly attribute the delay to the decision, but it seems obvious that the company doesn’t want to return any of its spectrum to the department for any reason whatsoever. As a result of the Industry Canada ruling, Look has divided its network into two separate parts: one for mobile broadcasting and the other for two-way broadband. It isn’t a sure thing either that Look will actually move into the mobile broadband or mobile voice market. McGoey says the company will have to decide whether the economics of giving up one-third of spectrum holdings, or 33 MHz, is worth it. "Or are we better off to just stay with 100 MHz of broadcast video spectrum?" he asks. "The economics are still out." Another scenario could present itself for Look. The company could partner with Inukshuk on the mobile broadband side, allowing it to retain 100% of its broadcast spectrum, while relying on Inukshuk for the mobile Internet and voice services aspect. But if Inukshuk is to implement mobile services, the same rule would apply to it: Inukshuk would have to return one-third of its 100 MHz spectrum, as would Look if it did the same. "You could argue that the two companies if they work together could end up using 100 MHz of broadcast TV and 66 MHz for two-way broadband," McGoey suggests. "No sense both being mobile." But there is also a case for Look partnering with one of the mobile wireless operators, McGoey suggests, noting that this is what is taking place in Europe. "We think, interesting enough, that there could be a case that you partner with a cellular company and its cellular network for voice and the DVB-H broadcast network for TV," he says.

Look takes big step towards commercial availability of its mobile TV network

News | 05/04/2006 4:00 am EDT

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