Orange has signed an agreement with IP Wireless to trial a new TDTV technology in its UMTS network in the UK beginning in the middle of the year.
IP Wireless announced the agreement with Orange at the recent 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, the firm said in a statement.
TDTV is a recently announced mobile TV and multimedia solution from IP Wireless, which is based on the 3GPP Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services (MBMS) standard.
TDTV operates in the universal unpaired 3G spectrum bands available across Europe and Asia at 1900 MHz and 2010 MHz. With the solution, UMTS operators such as Orange can use their existing licenses and equipment to offer mobile TV and multimedia services without impacting their existing 3G voice and data services.
IP Wireless claims that the solution allows UMTS operators to offer up to 50 mobile TV channels for standard cellphone screens, or 17 QVGA channels.
By using the MBMS standard, an unlimited number of customers can watch mobile TV or access similar digital data without the need for additional network bandwidth.