Market research has revealed that the use of satellite technologies for mobile TV services may be a sensible and cost-effective solution that will transcend the problems that the European mobile TV has encountered to date.

The analyst believes that satellite services can be expected to boost significantly the sustainable growth in spread, quality and reliability of mobile TV service offerings. In particular, new analysis from Frost & Sullivan's Space & Communications Group , ‘European Mobile Satellite TV Markets', states that the market earned revenues of $1.92 million in 2007 and estimates this to reach $3,273.9 million in 2014.

"As Mobile TV services continue to grow across Europe, customers and operators require a reliable and pervasive service coverage, which can transmit high-quality, dedicated programs," outlined Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Natalie Bentz. "The distribution and transmission by satellite, through the hybrid network or backhaul, will both greatly contribute to the success of Mobile TV by providing what the industry and the customers ask for."

The analyst believes that the hybrid network solution for Mobile TV offers great potential in terms of distribution, answering the operators' and customers' needs for reception in urban and rural areas, as well as indoor and outdoor settings. Furthermore, it says that the utilisation of the S-band, which will be allocated European Union wide, will reduce spectrum difficulties that could be experienced when using other frequencies.

Using satellite backhaul for the distribution of Mobile TV has fundamental advantages, as backhaul is a known solution for data and video applications. Another advantage of satellite backhaul for mobile TV is that in contrast to the direct/hybrid satellite solution in the S-band, this model is not affected by the standardization problem.

Further, as this solution does not involve a direct link from the satellite to the end user, no specific devices or chipsets are needed.

However, Frost & Sullivan warns that both hybrid network and satellite backhaul solutions face some problems in the market, including competing alternatives through terrestrial networks.

"By the time of the scheduled availability of the satellite segment for the hybrid solution, terrestrial alternatives will already have established themselves in some markets," Bentz cautions. "The solution of satellite backhaul faces problems related to the bandwidth hungriness of mobile TV applications." The analyst pointed to the mobile TV market in Italy having still significant room for improvement and that customers require a high level and spread of service coverage and quality.