Thailand gets taste of 2.5G mobile TV

Thai mobile operator AIS is launching a new mobile TV service that uses 2.5G technology to deliver content to a subscriber's mobile phone.

In a press statement released Thursday, the mobile operator announced its partnership with UK-based ROK Entertainment Group to deploy the mobile TV service--dubbed ROK TV-to its 16 million customers in Thailand.

Jonathan Kendrick, chairman and CEO of ROK, described the partnership as a milestone in the company's efforts to deploy high quality 2.5G mobile TV services worldwide.

Kendrick said using 2.5G technology instead of a third-generation (3G) service to deliver the ROK TV service enables both parties to reach out to more mobile phone users.

"No longer is mobile TV confined to those telcos with a 3G offering," said Kendrick in a media release. "ROK TV over 2.5G actually plays at a faster frame rate than any existing 3G TV service and is compatible with even more handsets."

According to AIS, ROK TV will be offered to customers at a monthly subscription fee of 50 baht (US$1.25).

ROK TV subscribers will get access to 20 channels, said AIS, of which three are free. Channels will include live streaming of music as well as sports and entertainment programs in both English and Thai languages.

According to AIS, the company aims to sign up 1 million subscribers to the service within the next 12 months.

This announcement is the latest in a growing number of initiatives focused on driving the adoption of mobile TV across the globe, including Asia.

In January, the GSM Association (GSMA) announced a collaboration with film maker Sanjay Gupta to bring the Indian film industry into the mobile entertainment space.

Industry analysts predict mobile TV in the Asia-Pacific region will become a multi-billion dollar industry over the next few years as more mobile network operators fulfill the burgeoning demand for live news, sports and video content on mobile phones.