As operators’ fixed-line revenues flatline, the growth of mobile data is exploding.

 

But for mobile operators, there are still a lot of missed opportunities to cash in on the multi-billion dollar market. Of the 4.1 billion mobile subscribers worldwide, about 400 million – or 10 percent – have 3G broadband connectivity.

 

In spite of the growth of 3G, “packet-based mobile networks still present challenges when doing reliable, two-way, interactive, personalized video services,” said Ray Adensamer (News - Alert), senior product marketing manager at RadiSys, during TMCnet’s recent Webinar, “3G Mobile Video Services Innovative Solutions for Mass Market Deployment.”

 

The easiest way to get into this market, according to Adensamer? Ebrace the target market for mobile video services – and the robust, new technologies that come with it, from the 3G.324M protocol to robust H.264 (Mpeg 4) codecs.

 

Operators might also need to revamp some of the applications that relied on older technologies, such as phone cameras.

 

“I still see many phones that are relatively short-sighted, where you just see the camera facing the back,” Adensamer said. “That’s good for content creation but to do some of these interactive services – particularly mobile video conferencing, you’re going to need front-facing design.”

 

The second challenge is that too often, operators lose money off third-party developers who enjoy the lion’s share of revenues from delivering the hottest applications.

 

“The problem for the operator is the data-revenue growth plan is not keeping pace with the consumption of providers,” Adensamer said.

 

For example, “YouTube (News - Alert) is not on the mobile network. Instead it’s licensed through the third party content provider.”

 

Other challenges mobile-video-minded operators should keep in mind – even if they don’t know how to address them yet – are the high cost of mobile video and the lack of compelling content.

 

In an impromptu survey question posted during the Webinar – What is the key barrier against mass market adoption of 3G video services? -- respondents said the biggest factors inhibiting mobile video growth are the cost of deployment and availability of compelling interactive video services.

 

“We need to have cost-effective infrastructures,” Adensamer said.

 

The good news is that as cost goes down and more applications launch, the outlook for mobile video is expected to improve.

 

Right before the Webinar, RadiSys (News - Alert) released of its “Convedia Media Server” line, which includes 3G mobile video features that address the growing demand for interactive video services, allowing service providers to support video processing on a single, common IP infrastructure and single service delivery architecture.

 

Stay tuned for more information on this product – and insight on how service providers can leverage existing networks and roll out new, revenue-generating mobile video services.