Gemalto Powers World's First SIM-Based Mobile TV Trial in Singapore with Media Corp, MobileOne, SingTel and StarHub

Consumer mobile TV trial in Singapore is world’s first to use OMA BCAST SCP standard together with a comprehensive viewership measurement system

AMSTERDAM — Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, today announces that the world’s first Open Mobile Alliance Smart Card Profile compliant mobile TV consumer trial is to be enabled by Gemalto’s UpTeq™ mobile TV Subscriber Identity Module and viewership measurement service in Singapore. Working in conjunction with an advanced live measurement platform, the UpTeq high-end SIM will study usage patterns, making it the ideal mobile content customer relationship management tool.

This consumer trial is backed by a strong industry-wide partnership comprising Singapore’s leading media companies MediaCorp, StarHub and SingTel for the content provision, Singapore’s three main operators MobileOne, SingTel and StarHub for the content delivery, Alcatel-Lucent for the Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld (DVB-H) platform and Samsung for the mobile TV handsets.

The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Mobile Broadcast Services Enabler Suite (BCAST) is a globally recognized standard for mobile TV that specifies a variety of features amongst which is the use of a smart card for content protection. The smart card has always enjoyed recognition as the platform of choice for portable secure devices. The UpTeq Mobile TV SIM provides the end-to-end security needed for mobile digital television and is a simple, well-understood means for operators to market their services in any combination of post-paid, pre-paid or pay-per-use model.

Of particular interest to operators and content providers is the unique ability for the UpTeq SIM to analyze viewer usage patterns such as most viewed channel, duration spent viewing a channel and other channel switching patterns. The viewership measurement system records, organizes and presents this highly valuable data for further analysis. This gives service operators a critical tool to observe and anticipate growth trends, and to identify problem areas that ordinarily are difficult to spot.

Tan Teck Lee, President of Gemalto Asia commented, “What makes this trial unique is the first time use of the OMA BCAST Smart Card Profile for conditional access, with the interoperability this brings to the three operators involved. Moreover, any new service deployment demands specific feedback about consumers’ behavior and reaction, and Mobile TV is a prime example of this need. To close the loop between content provisioning and viewer choice, we used the Gemalto Trusted Services Manager approach to structure the system. This greatly improves the effectiveness and appeal of mobile content whilst at the same time protecting the confidentiality of the individuals’ data.”

Mr Mock Pak Lum, MediaCorp’s Managing Director for Technologies says, “The mobile phone is truly a unique platform as a third screen for TV content. The success of the Mobile TV service depends on abundance of handsets and good user experience. We are very happy that Gemalto is supporting us for this trial.”

“The mobile TV trial will be extremely useful in helping us gain a better understanding of our customers’ viewing habits and preferences and the types of content they want. The sophisticated SIM technology provided by Gemalto is a key enabler for the trial and will be crucial to our ability to meet the trial’s major objectives,” added Lee Kok Chew, Director of Business Development and Strategic Planning, MobileOne.

Mr Anil Nihalani, Head of Mobile Services at StarHub, continued, “The mobile TV trial is important in two aspects. We hope to get valuable feedback and information from customers on their viewing habits, programme preferences and receptiveness to such a service. In addition, we intend to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed SIM card technology in managing content security, a key concern for both content partners and operators.”

Mr Kang Aik Siang, Director of Consumer Products (Mobile), SingTel commented, “The mobile channel continues to be an exciting platform for content distribution. Using the UpTeq Mobile TV SIM as the subscription device is easy for operators to manage and is also convenient for consumers in terms of its portability across compatible handsets. This ensures that subscribers always have continuity of service even when changing handsets.”

“Alcatel-Lucent is dedicated to the integration and the delivery of a multi-standard end-to-end Unlimited Mobile TV solution, spanning all aspects of Mobile TV operators’ and service providers’ technical needs,” added Olivier Coste, Chairman of Alcatel-lucent’s mobile broadcast activities. “Leveraging Gemalto’s leadership in digital security, we are committed to the success of this world-first DVB-H trial using the powerful OMA BCAST SCP content protection standard, which positions the Singaporean market at the forefront of Mobile TV worldwide.”

Trial participants have already been able to enjoy a rich variety of content as well as comprehensive telecasts of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.