A new survey of mobile DTV launched by U.S. broadcasters has found that 96 U.S. stations have launched mobile DTV services and that 126 stations in 48 markets are planning to launch the mobile services by the end of 2011, reports the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC), which conducted the research.
The uptick in installations indicates that broadcasters are on track to cover about two thirds of all households in early 2012, the OMVC believes.
In addition, OMVC announced its conditional access system, the Mobile DTV Trust Authority, managed by Neustar, is now operational.
Currently, the OMVC in discussions with several companies developing new Mobile DTV products that operate with conditional access and manufacturers of Mobile DTV capable devices are starting to enter into agreements directly with Neustar to obtain the digital certificates and keys necessary for their devices to access Mobile DTV services.
The recent moves to get conditional access systems in place are important because it will allow for robust audience measurement and the eventual deployment of subscription programming.
In the fall, the OMVC will also launch a model Conditional Access System in the Washington, D.C. market so that consumer electronics (CE) companies can test gear that receives, decodes, and displays mobile broadcast signals.
As previously reported, The OMVC's Mobile DTV Forum is working to complete Consumer Electronics Device Profiles for new programming services later this summer. The profiles are baseline technical guidelines that will give CE manufacturers details about how broadcasters will implement new services and the inputs needed to build consumer electronics products that receive Mobile DTV.
Broadcasters hope that the profiles will encourage more companies to produce mobile DTV capable devices.
