Last year, 3 Australia became the first operator to successfully test Ericsson’s MBMS solution. An early version of the solution became available during the first quarter of 2008 and a full commercial launch is expected later this year, allowing telcos to broadcast mobile TV to millions of consumers.

“The benefit to the operator is that MBMS uses existing infrastructure and spectrum, and a lot of the same functionality of existing handsets,” Greg Palmer, standards and technical strategy manager for 3 Australia, says.

“The demonstration last August showed that we can mix the existing streaming services with broadcast services and present a consistent user experience. All of the functions for delivering MBMS end-to-end, from the terminal to the core network, were demonstrated.”

So far, about one dozen operators have expressed an interest in trying Ericsson’s MBMS solution.

“When it comes to interactivity and when it comes to being more efficient with the spectrum that you have as a service provider, MBMS makes more sense,” says Jeff Heynen, a mobile TV analyst with Infonetics Research in the United States.

“I think the dedicated networks will serve their purpose and get people familiar with mobile TV. Long term, though, broadcast networks will have a hard time keeping subscribers unless they find a way to better introduce interactivity and exclusive content.”

MBMS provides point-to-multi-point connections, dramatically expanding the number of users who can use the network simultaneously. But it is the unique combination of unicast/HSPA, interactivity, and MBMS broadcast that gives the technology a competitive edge. (HSPA and unicast already allow operators to launch mobile TV.)

MBMS also opens the door to new, revenue-driving applications, such as emergency broadcasts – for example, when government agencies need to warn a large population of a natural disaster.

With MBMS-ready phones hitting the market during the second half of 2008, one of the last obstacles to mobile TV over 3G should be removed. Ericsson has already conducted interoperability tests with leading chipset vendors to speed up the phones’ commercial launch.

Mobile-TV services will grow steadily over the next five years, reaching an estimated 462 million mobile subscribers by 2012, predicts ABI Research, a US-based market research firm. The expansion of 3G networks and new flat-rate charging models will speed up adoption, with the Asia-Pacific region leading the pack, ABI reports.

3 Australia’s customers are already well on their way. With 16 streaming video channels at their disposal today, 64 percent of customers paid for at least one content download every month in 2007, the operator reports.