ICO Needs Double XM’s Repeaters for In-Car Video Service
ICO’s proposed in-car video service will need twice as many repeater sites as satellite radio operators to deliver the high-quality video it expects to broadcast, ICO Pres. Craig Jorgens told us Tues. ICO plans to use the ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) authority given to mobile satellite service (MSS) operators to build repeaters in the 2 GHz band, Jorgens said, noting that the company plans to apply this year for the authority using the FCC’s expedited process.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
ICO said last week it plans a 2-city test of its Mobile Interactive Media (MIM) service (CD May 4 p6). MIM will be priced at $15-$25 monthly for high-quality video, interactive navigation, emergency voice and text messaging, the company said. ICO hasn’t decided which cities to test the service in, Jorgens told us.
ICO said last week it had signed a contract for Alcatel- Lucent to test the service, to be based on the DVB-SH mobile TV standard. ICO remains in negotiations with Alcatel-Lucent to develop a turnkey solution that will cover everything, including siting the 1,600 to 2,500 repeaters it believes it will need, said Jorgens. XM has 800 repeater sites, some of which it had to turn down or off because they were broadcasting at excessive power levels (CD Oct 6/06 p1). ICO shouldn’t run into this problem because its repeaters will broadcast at lower power, said Jorgens. Though NAB has squealed loudly about satellite radio’s repeaters, a spokesman told us broadcasters look forward to learning more about ICO’s plans.
ICO’s service will reach people in the most rural areas because it’s satellite, said Jorgens. During the investors conference, it said it would cover 100% of rural America. The service will be available in areas with little or no cellphone coverage, he said: “It is a really, really big country. There are a lot of roads that don’t have [cell] coverage and never will” but we will serve those areas.
In the cities, ICO’s service should compete well against other cellphone operators’ mobile TV service because its in- vehicle screen will be bigger, said Jorgens: “Most of the time when you have quality time to watch TV, you will want to watch it on a bigger screen” than a handset’s. Initially, at least, Jorgens expects the in-car terminals to be bigger than standard satellite radio terminals, he told us.
After ICO announced the service, Tim Farrar, pres.- Telecom, Media & Finance Assoc., questioned whether it could succeed in light of contracts that the 2 satellite radio operators have signed with car companies. Jorgens isn’t worried. “Those contracts end in 2010,” he explained, and it’s “not obvious” they “extend to video.”
Sirius has said it will offer 3 channels of video programming (CD March 30 p12). ICO will offer 8-15 channels including local broadcasting with local advertising, made possible with ICO’s spot beam technology, said Jorgens. Sirius’s video offering is aimed at children riding in the back seat because it can offer only “low-bit-rate video,” because it’s working with 4 MHz, Jorgens said. “That is cartoons, weather and news.” ICO has “substantially more” spectrum to offer programming for adults in addition to children. It’s still in negotiations with content providers, he said. “Broadcasters are anxious to have our programming on every new gadget and device that is available,” the NAB spokesman said, noting that copyright is one of several issues that must be dealt with.
ICO’s service will take advantage of polarized screens that allow only the driver to see navigation screens while the passenger can see video, said Jorgens. ICO’s navigation will be interactive, with GPS built into the terminals, he said.