Perhaps mobile operators should think “TV” and not just “Mobile TV”

Posted by Shailendra Pandey Saturday, October 11th, 2008

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Mobile operator Orange plans to launch a new service that includes a package of five cinema channels in France from November. The content on the channels will be available for viewing as live broadcasts as well as on-demand. Orange will license content from Warner Bros, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, HBO, Gaumont, BAC Films, Wild Side Films and Fidelite Film for this service.

The interesting aspect of this offer is that this will not be a pure mobile TV offering as most operators who have launched similar services have done in the past. Orange will also offer this service on TV and PC for Euro 12 per month. On mobile, the service will be priced at Euro 12 per month.

It will be fair to say that in general the uptake of mobile TV services has been disappointing so far. Initially, operators and other players in the value chain were very optimistic when the first services were introduced. However, the various business models being tried have not delivered the desired results.

It is difficult to say if Orange will be able to change this trend. However, in some respects the strategy to offer a complete service package for TV, PC and mobile users seems a better strategy. It will also help Orange to achieve critical mass of subscribers sooner. Further, this approach also compliments the industry trend, especially in developed markets where operators are trying to reposition themselves, and are moving in the direction of essentially becoming mobile broadband players.